“I had the yellow jersey in my mind for a long time" - Lotte Kopecky fulfills ambition by taking victory on stage 1 of Tour de France Femmes

Team SD Worx have been a dominant force so far in 2023 and they got off to the perfect start at the Tour de France Femmes as Lotte Kopecky soloed her way to a brilliant stage win with teammate Lorena Wiebes completing the one-two.

“I had the yellow jersey in my mind for a long time," admits Kopecky in her post-stage interview after sealing the first Maillot Jaune of the 2023 edition of the race. “I joked with friends for a few weeks that it was time to take yellow. It's great that I was able to do it. I felt on the final climb that I had something left and after that it mainly went down. I knew: If I keep my power, they won't take me back.”

With such a star-studded lineup, SD Worx have multiple options on almost every stage, as was the case on this occasion. “We had two strategies,” she admits. “We also thought of Lorena. If she could join us on the climb, we would go for her in the sprint. But I was also allowed to take my own chance and I'm glad they gave me this chance."