Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) swept all three stages of the Ford RideLondon Classique and secured the overall victory in London on Sunday. Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich PostNL) was runner-up, while Wiebes’s teammate, Lotte Kopecky, rounded out the podium in third.
Wiebes was pleased to have won again, having won in 2022, and had this to say afterwards. “It’s always hard to try the same again, and hat-tricks are always hard to do, but I’m really happy to be unbeatable in RideLondon. I really want to thank my teammates for all the work they did the last three days.”
Runner-up Charlotte Kool was satisfied with her performance and expressed optimism that she was finally getting back on track. “I think it was actually a good weekend. I felt way better than in the Vuelta, for example, and I think I’m getting there, so we are going in the right direction.”
Stage 1: Saffron Walden > Colchester (159.2km)
Stage 1 was a flat stage that saw a fast-paced peloton carefully monitor any escapees. Nevertheless, riders did attempt to get away, the first ones being Rebecca Koerner (Uno-X Mobiblity) and Lea Lin Teutenberg (Ceratizit-WNT). After this duo got reeled in by the peloton with 16.5km to go, Alice Towers (Canyon-SRAM) and Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek) tried to escape, but they too were also caught with only 6.9km remaining.
As the final approached, SD Worx-Protime took control and Lorena Wiebes was put into position by teammate Lotte Kopecky to execute the perfect sprint, winning by 5-6 bike lengths. Rival Charlotte Kool tried to match Wiebes, launching her sprinting twice, but in the end had to sit down and settle for fifth, revealing later that she had sprinted on a flat tire. Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) and Clara Copponi (Lidl – Trek) secured second and third, with Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Uno-X Mobility) taking fourth, and Wiebes’s teammate, Lotte Kopecky taking seventh.
Afterwards, Wiebes praised her teammates for their hard work. “I had to finish off this. The girls were chasing all day and controlling the breakaway. It was a good situation for us. We kept the gap controllable, and Femke and Christine did really well. We can be really happy. The race was always perfect for us, so we’re looking forward to tomorrow”.
Stage 2: Maldon > Maldon (142.6km)
A very controlled stage characterized stage 2, with no one getting away, as SD Worx-Protime and other sprinter teams made sure that it would come down to a sprint.
In the final kilometer the sprint trains Uno-X Mobility and Team dsm-firmenich PostNL led the peloton, ensuring that no one would get away. In the final 500 meters, Kopecky and Wiebes were clearly at the front and ready to go with no other teams organized well enough to challenge them on the uphill sprint. Kopecky brought Wiebes into position and with 150 meters to go she launched her sprint easily winning by several bike lengths. Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich PostNL) was the closest to Wiebes in the end, taking second, with Wiebes’s teammate, Lotte Kopecky, claiming third.
Afterwards, Wiebes revealed how bad luck almost cost them the race. “We had a crash with almost half the team, I was really lucky that I was able to land on my feet. But luckily, we all came back, and Lotte did an amazing final. Besides the crash, it was a good race today, and I hope I can finally celebrate on The Mall.”
Stage 3: London > London (91.2km)
The eight lap, 91.2km stage took place in downtown London on an 11.4km circuit that discouraged any sort of breakaways and was ultimately controlled by a peloton of sprinter teams. As expected, breakaway attempts were short-lived, with the most successful coming from Kaja Rysz (Lifeplus Wahoo) and Scarlett Souren (VolkerWessels) who attacked with 44km to go and had a sizeable gap until they were brought back before the last Intermendiate sprint with 23km to go.
In the final lap, teams began setting up their lead-out trains for the sprint, but it was SD Worx-Protime that prevailed, with Lotte Kopecky leading out Wiebes until the last 100 meters and Wiebes finishing it off and winning by a good 4 bike lengths.
Wiebes was pleased to have taken all three stages and had nothing but praise for her team. “It’s always hard to try to do the same again, and hat-tricks are hard to do. But I’m really happy to be unbeatable in RideLondon. I really want to thank my teammates for all the work they did.”
Results
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/prudential-ride-london-gp-we/2024/gc
