2024 Tour of Britain Women podium (l-r): second place Anna Henderson (Great Britain Cycling Team), winner Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime), third place Christine Majerus (SD Worx-Protime)(Image credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Christine Majerus (Worx-Protime) celebrates but Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) wins Stage 4 of the 2024 Lloyds Bank Women's Tour of Britain in Leigh(Image credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
SD Worx-Protime’s Christine Majerus and Lotte Kopecky followed by Anna Henderson (Great Britain Cycling Team)(Image credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
The solo break of Lizzie Deignan of Great Britain National Team(Image credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
On the fourth and final stage, Kopecky's team held off a challenge from Lizzie Deignan (Great Britain) who went solo on the Grains Bar climb but was caught by a select group with 40km to go.
The situation changed several times from there on in, and Majerus won the intermediate sprint before an attack by Pfeiffer Georgi (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) led to a front group of four, also including Anna Henderson (Great Britain), Letizia Paternoster (Liv-AlUla-Jayco), and Kopecky, the top four riders in the GC.
They were 40 seconds ahead with 15km to go, but when Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) attacked from the chase group, the cohesion was gone, and things came back together 9km from the line.
A group of five had a small advantage in the final before being caught 4km from the finish, just as Paternoster suffered a puncture that scuppered her GC podium.
Kopecky had a small gap onto the 250-metre finishing straight then sat up as she wanted Majerus to take the win. But Roseman-Gannon came from behind and squeezed past on the line as Majerus raised her arm to celebrate what she thought was her stage win.
“I still can’t believe it, honestly. It wasn’t the plan to go for me. We were working all in for Letizia, but she had a puncture. I asked in the radio if I should come back. The team said ‘no, just focus on the finish’. That's what I did. I definitely did not expect to cross the line first,” Roseman-Gannon reflected on changing plans at the last moment.
“I knew SD Worx were the best wheels to follow. They were riding for Majerus and really wanted to give her the win because she's always working for them. I feel a bit bad, I know she works so hard for them, but I’m also quite happy to take it myself,” the Australian champion said about her first Women’s WorldTour victory.
How it unfolded
Starting at the National Cycle Centre in Manchester and finishing in Leigh Sports Village, the final stage covered 99km and included the climbs of Grains Bar and Ramsbottom Rake as well as numerous unclassified climbs. The sign-in was held in light showers, but the rain got stronger and stronger throughout the stage, making for harsh conditions.
After a few unsuccessful attacks, Krista Doebel-Hickok (Human Powered Health) got away and had a 25-second gap going into the Grains Bar climb, but a hard pace from Teniel Campbell (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) brought the US rider back and reduced the peloton to about 25 riders.
Deignan went for the QOM points to secure her blue jersey and continued her move on the descent, quickly gaining a sizable gap. SD Worx-Protime took charge of the chase as the British national team rider was only 43 seconds down on Kopecky going into the stage, and when Deignan had a 50-second advantage with 70km to go, she was the virtual leader.
Charlotte Kool (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) attacked from the peloton on an unclassified climb out of Rochdale but was soon reeled in again. Deignan’s advantage briefly rose to 1:04 minutes, but when she started the Ramsbottom Rake, she was only 40 seconds ahead.
A chase group of four formed on the steep climb including Paternoster, Henderson, Kopecky, and Georgi. They were only 12 seconds behind Deignan at the top but did not push on, allowing the 35-year-old to increase her gap to 30 seconds again while Wiebes, Majerus, Amber Pate (Liv-AlUla-Jayco), Josie Talbot (Cofidis), Roseman-Gannon, Elena Cecchini (SD Worx-Protime), Eline Jansen (VolkerWessels), and Franzi Koch (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) came back to the chase group.
When Deignan was caught by this group, Henderson immediately counter-attacked but was not let go by Kopecky. Pate had no luck with her move either before Roseman-Gannon, Majerus, and Deignan got away, with Talbot and Wiebes jumping across before this move, too, was neutralised.
Having worked hard to close the gap, Elinor Barker (Great Britain) and the St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93 trio of Victorie Guilman, Célia Le Mouel, and Dilyxine Miermont bridged to the front from the chase group, and the rest of that group with Abi Smith (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Grace Lister (Hess Cycling Team), Sarah Roy (Cofidis), Valerie Demey (VolkerWessels), Marit Raaijmakers (Human Powered Health) and the British national team’s Millie Couzens, Flora Perkins, and Elynor Bäckstedt made it to the front soon after for a peloton of 25 riders.
Majerus won the intermediate sprint with 24.5km to go ahead of Paternoster and Wiebes, then Deignan and Henderson took turns to attack, but neither could get away. Georgi’s move on a climb out of Horwich succeeded and led to the group of four with Henderson, Paternoster, and Kopecky.
As their teams were happy to see this quartet gain time, their advantage rose to 40 seconds with 15km to go. However, Kopecky must have been uneasy about her sprint chances against Paternoster, so Wiebes tried to bridge to the front, and this led to Paternoster, Georgi, and Henderson taking turns attacking and leaving Kopecky to close the gaps.
Despite the attacks, Wiebes made it across just inside the 10km mark, and the 20-rider peloton came back soon after. Koch, Perkins, and Cecchini were the next to go up the road, with Roseman-Gannon quickly bridging to them, but the gap was only a few seconds. Talbot came across just before the group was caught again.
Paternoster’s rear wheel puncture outside the 3km mark left her chasing to keep her third place in GC; despite only finishing ten seconds down, she lost the podium spot and dropped down to fifth. Trying to put Georgi on the podium, DSM-Firmenich PostNL set the pace before SD Worx-Protime came to the front on the final kilometre.
Kopecky took over from Cecchini with 500 metres to go and got a gap on Majerus through the left-right combination onto the finishing straight. The world champion and GC leader looked behind for her teammate who was now launching her sprint with Wiebes acting as sweeper, but Roseman-Gannon could crank up the pace in their slipstream and squeeze past Majerus on the final metre as the Luxembourg champion posted up to celebrate.
Despite missing out on the stage win, Majerus finished third overall due to the time bonifications for second place, with Kopecky winning the GC 17 seconds ahead of Henderson and 34 seconds ahead of her teammate. Georgi finished fourth at 38 seconds. Sixth-placed Jansen won the off-white jersey for the best U23 rider while Kopecky also won the points classification and SD Worx-Protime won the team ranking. On top of the QOM jersey, Deignan was awarded the stage 4 combativity prize while the overall combativity prize went to Lifeplus-Wahoo for their resilience after having the team bikes.
Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.
