Lorena Wiebes wins opening stage of RideLondon Classique after expert leadout by Lotte Kopecky

Stage 1 of the 2024 RideLondon Classique has gone to Team SD Worx - Protime and Lorena Wiebes, thanks inpart to an expert leadout by world champion Lotte Kopecky.

With the duo of Lea Lin Teutenberg and Rebecca Koerner spending most of the day as a two-woman breakaway, as the stage entered the final 30 kilometres, the attackers still had an advantage of around 1:03 over the peloton. Despite their best efforts though, the breakaway were caught with just over 15km to go. 

From there, preparation for the expected bunch sprint finale began in earnest at the front of the peloton for most teams. Some though, were still intent on upsetting the applecart, sending solo flyers to try their luck. In the end however, it was a sprint that decided the day with Lorena Wiebes taking the win ahead of Letizia Paternoster and Clara Copponi.