Thüringen Ladies Tour: Lotte Kopecky wins overall, completes SD Worx sweep with stage 6 victory

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SD Worx rider goes solo in finale, Wiebes and Roseman-Gannon sprint for second and third in Mühlhausen

Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx)
Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) (Image credit: Getty Images)
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Lotte Kopecky completed the six-day sweep for SD Worx, winning stage 6 at the Thüringen Ladies Tour and securing the overall victory.

The Belgian all-rounder launched a winning late-race attack and crossed the line 32 seconds ahead of the peloton. Her teammate Lorena Wiebes won the bunch sprint for second ahead of Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Jayco-AlUla) in third.

Kopecky's victory came after a dominant team performance that saw SD Worx win the opening team time trial, Mischa Bredewold in stage 2, Barbara Guarischi win stage 3, Lonneke Uneken win stage 4, and Wiebes win stage 5.

How it unfolded

The final stage 6 at Thüringen was one of the toughest stages of the six-day event offering the field a 125.2km race in Mühlhausen.

The stage opened with a larger loop that included two ascents over Waldbaden (1.7km at 5.1%) and Hohe Weg (3.2km at 6.1%). The field then raced toward the closing hilly circuit with two climbs before a run-in to the finish line in Mühlhausen.

A four-rider break set off early that included Mieke Kröger (Germany), Lieke Nooijen (Parkhotel Valkenburg), Amandine Fouquenet (Arkea) and Fabienne Jahrig (Maxx-Solar Rose).

The quartet gained a small lead over an SD Worx-led peloton. However, they lost power when, with 64km to go, Jahrig was distanced from the break at the base of the second ascent of the day, Hohe Weg.

As the field further reduced the gap to the breakaway, several attacks came from Fenix-Deceuninck, Netherlands and Arkea, but all were caught with 50km to go.

Several more attacks were launched, and a reshuffling breakaway formed that eventually led to Kopecky in a solo move 30 seconds ahead of the peloton.

AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep led the chase, but Kopecky's advantage continued to grow to over a minute in the final kilometres.

The Belgian rider crossed the finish line 32 seconds ahead of the field with the victory, while her teammate Wiebes won the bunch sprint for second place and Roseman-Gannon in third.

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Kirsten Frattini
Kirsten Frattini
Deputy Editor

Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.

Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.

She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.

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