Lotte Kopecky won the first stage of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes after a late solo breakaway to lead the overall standings by 45 seconds from her teammate Lorena Wiebes.
The 123.8km loop, out and back from the centre of Clermont-Ferrand, came to a head in the last 20km as the peloton fought for position on the approach to the only real climb of the stage, the Côte de Durtol, in the shadow of the Puy de Dôme.
Kopecky, winner this year of the Tour of Flanders, admitted she had initially thought that the opening day of racing would be controlled by the sprinters. But as the climb got steeper, she accelerated clear and rode alone, at speeds close to 50km/h, to the finish.
As has been the case elsewhere this season, a physical reconnaissance proved more effective than a virtual one. “I saw the stage online a few weeks ago and thought ‘that’s a stage for sprinters’, but then the team directors did a reconnaissance and texted me that the first stage suited me very well,” Kopecky said.
“Then, when I rode it two days ago, I was really happy to see the climb.”
The Belgian said of her attack: “I had the feeling that I had something left. I just went and I thought: probably somebody will follow, but nobody could. Once I was at the top it was mostly downhill or slightly dragging downhill. I knew if I kept my power, they would not catch me.”
Kopecky’s SD Worx team have established themselves as the dominant force in women’s racing in recent seasons, even if the Movistar’s Annemiek van Vleuten, winner of this year’s Giro Donne, is the favourite for the final victory in Pau next weekend.
“We are lucky in this team that we have a lot of good riders,” Kopecky said. “We had two strategies for this stage actually, because we have Lorena. If she could get over the climb, we planned to go for Lorena in the bunch sprint, but I also had a chance to go myself. I’m happy I could finish it off like this.”
However the team’s leader in the fight for the final maillot jaune remains Demi Vollering, second to her fellow Dutch rider Van Vleuten in last year’s Tour de France Femmes.
Asked if she could retain the race lead until the peloton reach the Pyrenees on Saturday, Kopecky said: “I’ve no idea actually. I’m happy I took this opportunity but I’m clear that the biggest goal for the team is the General Classification with Demi, whatever needs to be done. If we have to sacrifice the yellow jersey then we will do so.
We know where we are going for the final GC, but of course it would be nice to wear yellow for a few days.”
Although only 1.7km long, the high pace on the climb, set mainly by Vollering’s team, was enough to cause significant splits. These grew bigger after Kopecky’s attack stretched out the peloton on the winding descent into Clermont-Ferrand.
What looked a relatively benign opening stage has already shaped the hierarchy with some possible podium contenders distanced. Most of the pre-race favourites, including Van Vleuten, were present in the main group. Others, including Juliette Labous of Team DSM-Firmenich, who finished fourth last July, lost almost a minute and a half to Kopecky, a gap that may prove difficult to bridge.
Monday’s tough second stage is likely to shred the peloton further with six categorised climbs on the 151.7km route from Clermont-Ferrand to Mauriac, in the Cantal.
