Lotte Kopecky did not sustain any fractures or other serious injuries from her crash in the penultimate stage of the Simac Ladies Tour. Her team SD Worx - Protime announced this on social media on Saturday evening. The world champion did sustain several abrasions and a few bruises.
The fall comes at a bad time for Kopecky, just before the World Track Cycling Championships (16-20 October) in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Belgian has only a few days to recover from her fall and the abrasions and bruises she sustained.
It is still unclear whether Kopecky will appear at the start of the final stage of the Dutch stage race today. "We will wait and see how the night and the morning go before we decide whether or not she will start on Sunday," writes the team on X.
The crash happened about a kilometer from the finish line of the fifth stage. In the run-up to the sprint in Doetinchem, it seemed to be Kopecky who went down first. A considerable part of the peloton slid along with her on the asphalt. Charlotte Kool also hit the ground. In contrast to Kopecky, the Dutch rider from dsm-firmenich PostNL could no longer get back on her bike.
The Simac Ladies Tour, which was won by Kopecky last year, ends today with a hilly stage of 145 kilometers in and around Arnhem. The question is whether we will see Kopecky takes the start on Sunday as she is still in the battle for overall victory.