“I hope everyone is okay” - Milano-Sanremo Women winner Lotte Kopecky sends well wishes after scary Cipressa crash

Lotte Kopecky celebrated her Milano-Sanremo Women 2026 triumph with a smile, confidence and the satisfaction of a race that had fallen perfectly into place, but the Belgian also made clear after the finish that the scary Cipressa crash had stayed on her mind.

“This is just amazing,” Kopecky said after taking one of the biggest wins of her career. “I had the full support of my team today, and after my win at Nokere Koerse, I had a lot of confidence.”

“Everything fell into place throughout the race. As Team SD Worx - Protime, we took responsibility when we had to," she added. "Everyone did a really great job to position us well before the climbs.”

That was the sporting story of Kopecky’s day. The emotional backdrop was different. After speaking about the race itself, the winner also addressed the heavy crash on the descent of the Cipressa that had shaken the finale and eliminated several riders from contention. “I hope everyone is okay.”

The race had been building towards its decisive phase when chaos broke out on one of the most technical parts of the course. The Cipressa had already thinned the field, but the descent brought a far more serious turning point as several riders came down in a heavy crash.

Among those caught up were Kasia Niewiadoma and Kim Le Court, two riders who had been central to the aggressive shape of the race. Their exits changed the complexion of Milano-Sanremo Women, disrupting the rhythm of the peloton and forcing the remaining contenders to quickly reset ahead of the Poggio.

It became one of those moments that no result can fully separate from the race itself. Kopecky went on to win the Monument, but the incident remained part of the story.

Once the race settled again, Kopecky did exactly what she needed to do. She matched the decisive move on the Poggio and made it into the small front group that would go on to fight for victory. “I’m happy that I was finally able to respond to an attack. We went over the top with five riders, and I knew I had to stay patient with Lorena still behind.”

That patience proved decisive. Kopecky stayed alert in a tense run-in, with every rider in the lead group aware of the danger of a late move as well as the sprint to come. “I was very alert for a late attack, but we are all fast, and we all gambled on the sprint.”

When the moment came, Kopecky got it exactly right. “I launched my sprint at the perfect moment and I’m super happy.”

She then underlined the performance in the clearest terms possible: “In the end, I was the strongest.”

Kopecky’s victory was built on form, positioning and calm decision-making. She had the legs to follow on the Poggio, the composure to wait in the finale and the speed to finish the job on the Via Roma.

But while her reaction showed a rider fully aware of how well she had raced, it also made clear that the Cipressa crash had not simply disappeared once the finish line was crossed.

That is what gave her post-race comments their weight. Kopecky spoke first about the win she had earned, but still made space to acknowledge the incident that helped shape the day.