Lotte Kopecky completed the six-day sweep for SD Worx, winning stage 6 at the Thüringen Ladies Tour and securing the overall victory.
The Belgian all-rounder launched a winning late-race attack and crossed the line 32 seconds ahead of the peloton. Her teammate Lorena Wiebes won the bunch sprint for second ahead of Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Jayco-AlUla) in third.
Kopecky’s victory came after a dominant team performance that saw SD Worx win the opening team time trial, Mischa Bredewold in stage 2, Barbara Guarischi win stage 3, Lonneke Uneken win stage 4, and Wiebes win stage 5.
Kopecky secured the overall title by 35 seconds ahead of teammates Wiebes and 41 seconds ahead of Bredewold.
How it unfolded
The final stage 6 at Thüringen was one of the toughest stages of the six-day event offering the field a 125.2km race in Mühlhausen.
The stage opened with a larger loop that included two ascents over Waldbaden (1.7km at 5.1%) and Hohe Weg (3.2km at 6.1%). The field then raced toward the closing hilly circuit with two climbs before a run-in to the finish line in Mühlhausen.
A four-rider break set off early that included Mieke Kröger (Germany), Lieke Nooijen (Parkhotel Valkenburg), Amandine Fouquenet (Arkea) and Fabienne Jahrig (Maxx-Solar Rose).
The quartet gained a small lead over an SD Worx-led peloton. However, they lost power when, with 64km to go, Jahrig was distanced from the break at the base of the second ascent of the day, Hohe Weg.
As the field further reduced the gap to the breakaway, several attacks came from Fenix-Deceunink, Netherlands and Arkea, but all were caught with 50km to go.
Several more attacks were launched, and a reshuffling breakaway formed that eventually led to Kopecky in a solo move 30 seconds ahead of the peloton.
AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep) led the chase, but Kopecky’s advantage continued to grow to over a minute in the final kilometres.
The Belgian rider crossed the finish line 32 seconds ahead of the field with the victory, while her teammate Wiebes won the bunch sprint for second place and Roseman-Gannon in third.
Results
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