As the winner of the 2025 edition of Milan-San Remo Women, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) started the 2026 race wearing the number one bib and was considered the woman to beat, leading all the lists of favourites for Saturday afternoon.
But with her teammate Lotte Kopecky in increasing form, the Dutch squad decided to play to its strengths and give the Belgian the main leadership – a move that paid off as she triumphed from a group of five that got away on the Poggio.
"Actually, Lotte was the plan A. I was more of a plan B. If it had come to a sprint, it was a 90% chance to go for Lotte, and she was also free to attack whenever she wanted. We had an open race for her today," said Wiebes after winning the sprint from the chasing peloton to finish sixth.
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In an all-star team like SD Worx-Protime, managing the demands of all riders is an important part of the team atmosphere, and Wiebes said that she was happy to let her teammate go for victory.
"She made this a goal of her season, and we want to give her the trust that she can also finish it off instead of me," she said.
"For me, it was not really a key race to win again. It's always nice to win, but if you've won it already, then you can also give opportunities to others."
The team controlled the race, bringing back the early breakaway and then using Blanka Vas to reduce the gap to lone attacker Lieke Nooijen (Visma-Lease a Bike) between the Cipressa and Poggio.
There, on the day's final climb, Kopecky followed an attack by Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech).
"It was a perfect situation for us with Lotte in the group of five in front of me. Luckily, it took long before the chase was on in our group," Wiebes said.
"It was my own mistake that meant I wasn't in the front group, but if I had been in the front group, they probably would not ride with me."
Dutch champion Wiebes, meanwhile, kept close to the front of the chasing peloton, ready to sprint for victory if the group with Kopecky were to be caught.
"With this kind of situation, I always keep in mind, if the group is coming back, I need to be ready to sprint, but that was not needed today," concluded Wiebes.
In the end, Kopecky had the strength left to outsprint Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) for the win, while Eleonora Gasparrini (UAE Team ADQ), Pieterse, and Dominika Włodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ) rounded out the top five.
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