Saturday, October 12, 2024 at 7:11 PM
Lorena Wiebes could not put a wide smile on her face after her third stage victory in the <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2023/08/annemiek-van-vleuten-reflects-on-retirement-and-praises-world-champion-lotte-kopecky/" title="Annemiek van Vleuten Reflects on Retirement and Praises World Champion Lotte Kopecky“>Simac Ladies Tour. The SD Worx-Protime sprinter was happy with her performance, but her thoughts were also with the victims of the crash in the absolute final. Teammate Lotte Kopecky and competitor Charlotte Kool fell. The latter had to stop the fight.
“I heard about the crash through my earpiece and Lotte immediately said that she was there. That sucks,” Lorena Wiebes looks back on the final of the fifth stage of the Simac Ladies Tour in Doetinchem. “You hear that people fall behind you, but that’s all I got. It was also a fairly dangerous final. With such a peloton going from left to right, such a crash can happen quickly.”
The wearer of the green jersey could be very satisfied with her own sprint. “I got out of position for a moment, but quickly found my way back. Then I started my sprint early and that was enough for the win. Kopecky would actually be on my wheel in the sprint, so we could have sprinted for the bonus seconds. Let’s see how Lotte is doing now. Tomorrow is a new day.”
Task Charlotte Kool
The crash happened about a kilometer from the finish in Doetinchem. In the run-up to the sprint, it seemed to be Lotte Kopecky who was the first to fall. A significant part of the peloton moved with her across the asphalt. Charlotte Kool also crashed to the ground. Unlike Kopecky, the Dutch woman from DSM company PostNL could no longer get on her bike. It is not known what the consequences of the fall will be for Kool.
