Paris-Roubaix Femmes: Lidl-Trek catching up, or Lotte Kopecky 'not as good'? Breakaway team on SD-Worx struggles

Updated 06/04/2024 at 14:57 GMT

Why are SD-Worx not having it all their own way this term? Lotte Kopecky may have won the UAE Tour, Strade Bianche and Nokere Koerse, but there was something of a shock at the recent Tour of Flanders where Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) took the tape. Eurosport's 'The Breakaway' team pore over the reasons. Watch and stream Paris-Roubaix this weekend on Eurosport and discovery+.

What's behind SD-Worx's struggles? The Breakaway team examine reasons

"Everyone is catching up" with dominant Dutch outfit SD-Worx, believes Adam Blythe, as Eurosport's The Breakaway team analysed the relative struggles of the star-studded team this season.

With a roster of riders including the likes of Demi Vollering, Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes, SD-Worx have become accustomed to sweeping all before them in women's cycling over recent times, but they have not had it all their own way this term, with Lidl-Trek's Elisa Longo Borghini pipping both Vollering and Kopecky at the recent Tour of Flanders.

On Eurosport's coverage of Paris-Roubaix, The Breakaway team of Adam Blythe, Dan Lloyd and Dani Rowe sought to explain the reasons for the change in dynamics.

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"[SD-Worx's] season has been good still, it's not been bad," Blythe began.

"It's just not what we've expected. They've been so dominant in the last couple of years, last year especially, and I think everyone's just caught up with them a little bit more.

"And I think their confidence in how they raced last year has just changed.

"Everyone's catching up with them, everyone's able to dominate their race tactics a little bit, so from that - it's not that they're struggling to adapt, but it's almost a little bit of a surprise at the situation they're in with more riders than they're used to, and I think that change with them is just 'this isn't normal, how we do deal with this?'

"And it's just that added pressure on top of them I feel."

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Rowe feels that Lidl-Trek are at the vanguard of the teams that are snapping at the coat-tails of the Dutch team.

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She said: "I think Lidl-Trek have come in so well this season that they've got that momentum that they're carrying into each and every race.

"And it's almost putting SD-Worx on the back foot. Yes, they still have had a great season so far if you look at the wins of Lorena Wiebes.

"But Lidl-Trek have got that kind of success breeding success nature."

Dutch Demi Vollering of SD Worx - Protime and Belgian Lotte Kopecky pictured during the team presentation of the SD Worx-Protime cycling team, Monday 22 January 2024 in Mechelen. BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM (Photo by DIRK WAEM / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP)

Image credit: Getty Images

Some have lingered on the scenes after Flanders where Vollering - who will leave SD-Worx at the end of the season - and Kopecky appeared somewhat distant towards each other.

Lloyd said: "That was post-race. I felt that there was a lot of cohesion within the race, when Demi Vollering was trying to help Kopecky back and when they realised that Kopecky didn't have the legs that she thought she would, they switched roles and Kopecky helped Vollering.

"So it felt fine to me from that point of view. I feel like Kopecky's just not as good as she was last year rather than the other teams necessarily doing all the catching-up.

"I just think we've had glimpses of what we'd normally expect from her, Strade Bianche dropping Longo Borghini on that climb to the finish, Nokere Koerse another unbelievable ride from her again there, but at Flanders specifically she just didn't look like she had that real punch that we'd normally expect from her."

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