Elisa Longo Borghini wins thriller at Tour of Flanders as Lotte Kopecky's hat-trick dream falters
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ByEurosport
Updated 31/03/2024 at 19:52 GMT
Lotte Kopecky's hat-trick hunt at the Tour of Flanders was snuffed out as SD Worx had a rare off day on the Flemish cobbles. The Belgian was the clear favourite after winning the last two editions but was off the pace as Lidl-Trek duo Elisa Longo Borghini and Shirin van Anrooij got away with Kasia Niewiadoma. Longo Borghini claimed the win, her second at the race, after a thrilling finale.
Watch highlights as Longo Borghini pips Niewiadoma to win Tour of Flanders
Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) proved the strongest in a three-up sprint to win a thrilling Tour of Flanders as SD Worx duo Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering finished off the podium.
Kopecky was bidding to become the first rider since Fiorenzo Magni (1949-51) to win Flanders three times in a row, but cracks surfaced on the Koppenberg as she was forced to run up the climb after being caught up in some chaos on the cobbles.
She recovered to join a chase group containing team-mate Vollering late on, but they could not close on the leading trio of Longo Borghini, Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon–SRAM).
Van Anrooij led out the sprint on the long home straight, with her team-mate Longo Borghini proving stronger than Niewiadoma to claim her second title, having also won back in 2015.
"I’m a more mature woman, I was just a kid when I first won it. I will for sure enjoy the victory with the team," a jubilant Longo Borghini said afterwards.
So much for spring - the riders were greeted with grey skies, the threat of rain and cool temperatures when they rolled out of the neutral zone. And it didn’t take long for the action to start, with a big crash just 10km into the 163km race taking out Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek), Marlen Reusser (SD Worx-Protime) and Monica Greenwood (Coop-Repsol). Deignan was later confirmed to have a broken arm.
Kopecky was caught up in that crash too, but managed to continue - albeit sans an important team mate. She seemed content to stay in the main bunch through the early stages, with intermittent rain starting to fall with just under 100km to go.
An original break of five riders got away just after that crash, and they stayed away all the way to the Kapelleberg, with a few others scattered up and down the road but all the favourites very much in the main bunch.
That rain progressively got worse, plenty of small crashes resulting from the slippery conditions. The main contenders all managed to stay upright though - until Longo Borghini locked up and slid off into a ditch, emerging clutching her shoulder. She managed to continue, catching back up with relative ease and later confirmed it had been a puncture that caught her out - making sure to thank her team for the service they provided in getting her a replacement bike in quick fashion.
From there, it was fairly steady in the peloton until the Koppenberg. That brutal climb - covered in cobbles and narrow to boot - was slick with rain. Positioning was crucial and a fair few got it right - and some got it very wrong.
Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), Longo Borghini, the talented youngster Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime) and Niewiadoma all managed to ride over the top and escape, while behind Kopecky was forced to dismount and run up the climb. With Vollering also missing out, those two then had to work together to try and chase down the elite break.
But worse was to come for the defending champion, who was dropped on the next climb. Although she managed to get back in touch with the chase group, she very clearly didn’t have the legs out there.
That much was confirmed when Vollering was given permission to do her own thing, and she seemed likely to be the only rider to manage to catch the leaders - although it took too much out of her legs for her to then be a factor.
“Just bad luck,” was Vollering’s take after a race she described as “horrible.”
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Kopecky forced to run up Koppenberg after 'absolute carnage' on cobbles
With so many elite riders in that lead group after the Koppenberg, it seemed very clear that the winner was likely coming from that bunch. Who was going to be brave enough to try and drop Vos?
Longo Borghini was the first to try, then Niewiadoma had a go. But while everyone began to play cat and mouse, no one was watching behind for Van Anrooij. She had originally been with Vollering but had been dropped by the Dutchwoman, seemingly out of contention.
But not only did she catch the leaders, she kept going and immediately gapped them. Pieterse was the first to realise the danger and chase her down, those two going clear just before the Paterberg.
Pieterse couldn’t stay the distance as Van Anrooij found another gear on the final climb. Behind, Niewiadoma decided to chase and Longo Borghini jumped on her wheel. Those two bridged the gap to the 22-year-old, leaving it a three way fight to the finish with two Lidl-Trek riders able to work together as Vos behind didn't have an answer.
The rain finally eased, the jerseys were smeared with mud, and pain was etched on the faces of Longo Borghini, Niewiadoma and Van Anrooij. Those three were clear and gone, working together all the way to the line.
Van Anrooij took it out first, having performed admirably in a sprint against Vos earlier this week at Dwars door Vlaanderen. But Longo Borghini used all her experience to peel off her team-mate’s wheel in the last 100 metres, crossing the line for her second victory in this prestigious race.
She raised her arms aloft, before punching the air in triumph. Somehow she had the energy to embrace her team mate, Lidl-Trek proving that SD Worx aren’t the only team to have enviable strength in depth this year.
"It’s just amazing, Shirin [van Anrooij] was a motorbike!" Longo Borghini joked afterwards. "In the end we can be proud - first and third in a race like this, it’s a huge team performance.
"[On the Koppenberg] I just saw Kopecky wasn’t there so we could do it, again it was a victory in the rain, seems like I perform well in the rain - not that I really like it though! I let SD Worx do the work most of the time, then the team car said you can try and go. I knew Niewiadoma was keen to go and then I turn back and it was just us two, and I knew full gas to the top and I win this."
Win it she did - with Longo Borghini now even more firmly in the mix as one of the favourites for Paris-Roubaix next weekend, although a hurting Kopecky might just be fired up to come back fighting.
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'I worry slightly' – Has Kopecky lost her explosiveness?
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