Lotte Kopecky easily wins European Time Trial Championships

Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) won the Elite European Time Trial Championship in Hasselt, Belgium ahead of Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) who finished second, 44 seconds back, and Christina Schweinberger (Austria) who finished third at 1:03.

With a master plan from her coach that helped her lead at both intermediate checkpoints, Kopecky completed the 31.3km course in a time of 39 minutes at an average speed of 47.984kph.

“I gained time at every intermediate point,” said Kopecky afterwards. “So that was good for the morale along the way. The decisive part was definitely between 10 and 15km with a headwind. You could make a big difference there. I have to thank my coach who drew up a pace plan at the Olympic Games and here.”

What does this mean for the World Championships? “I still had some reserve myself,” Kopecky said, “so it was a very nice time trial where I could ride the power that was set.”

Van Dijk was the early leader, starting 15th out of 27 riders and recording the quickest times at both intermediate checkpoints and at the finish. But she wasn’t so confident after she finished, perhaps knowing that her rival Kopecky was still on the course and yet to finish.

“I don’t have the best feeling right now,” said Van Dijk immediately afterwards. “It was a good time trial, I think. I was able to go quite deep. Although it was quite windy. I made a few mistakes in the beginning, but there were enough straight sections where I could push.”

Dutch teammate Reijanne Markus hoped for a podium spot, but finished fourth, missing out on the podium by 2 seconds. Unfortunately, her performance was 21 seconds slower than Van Dijk and may be a factor – not in her favor –  for deciding the final spot on the Worlds team.

“I really enjoyed it,” Markus said, “but the wind was very strong. It was sometimes difficult to stay in a straight line. I tried to race as consistently as possible and that went quite well. Of course I hoped to finish on the podium. Especially when you are only two seconds away. After a tough period I am happy with this form, so I am satisfied.”

Bronze medalist Schweinberger, who was third at the World Championships last year, had mixed feelings about her performance. “I’m not riding as freely as I did last year. But you always like to have a medal around your neck. It’s also cool when you have even bigger goals for the future. I still have a few European Championships and World Championships to go, so maybe a silver or gold will come my way.”

RESULTS

European Championships Women Elite Time Trial (31.3km)