"It was the intention that Demi would come after me, but that did not work out" - Lotte Kopecky explains her attacks in the final of stage

SD Worx's pre-planned tactics in the final of the Tour de France Femmes stage to Rodez didn't go to plan. Yellow jersey Lotte Kopecky attacked several times, but the follow-up was not on the schedule of the day.

"It was the intention that Demi would come after me, but that did not work out," she refers to leader Vollering.

In the end, Vollering, who finished second behind the soloing Yara Kastelijn, took eight seconds on her big competitor Annemiek van Vleuten on the uphill finish in Rodez. Kopecky finished not far behind, so she keeps her yellow jersey in the Tour Femmes. "But as long as Demi stays good in the standings and wins time, it couldn't be better for us," the Belgian told Sporza.

The course of the stage was special, because a leading group of fourteen riders got more than ten minutes of lead. "We wanted to keep the gap between five and ten minutes, without catching too many riders. I think it worked out well," Kopecky looks back. "In short, we were not going for the stage win. The gap was still four minutes before the penultimate climb, that was too much to make up for.¨"