Julia Kopecky won the Tour de Feminin 2024. Mirre Knaven won the final stage
The 114.6 kilometre long stage from Varnsdorf to Krásná Lípa was very demanding with nine QOMs. Julia Kopecky entered the stage as the clear favourite in the overall standings, with a lead of 44 seconds over her teammate Lore De Schepper.
Luck finally smiled on the riders and the weather remained nice throughout the day, but crashes still occurred. It was one such fall that stopped Lore De Schepper, who had to be treated by doctors and withdrew from the race. However, she was not seriously injured.
In the short steep climbs, there was basically constant attacking, with the most promising break by Britain's Henrietta Colborne (GT Krush Rebellease), Nikol Plosaj (MAT Atom Deweloper) and Febe Jooris (AG Insurance-Soudal NXTG). Their efforts, however, did not lead to a big enough lead over the peloton and they were caught with 60 kilometres to go.
The other breakaway attempts were even shorter and Mirre Knaven (AG Insurance-Soudal NXTG) takes most of the QOMs.
With 30 kilometres to go, yesterday stage winner Nikola Bajgerová (MAT Atom Deweloper) went into a solo breakaway. Czech champion Jarmila Machačová (Dukla Praha) chased her alone for a while, but before the top of the next climb they were caught one by one.
It was no problem for Julia Kopecky and the AG Insurance-Soudal NXTG team to control all the climbs. On the last climb Femke de Vries (GT Krush Rebellease), her closest rival in the overall standings, tried to attack, but the 19-year-old Czech was in her slipstream and wouldn't let her go.
A small peloton rode together into Krásná Lípa and in a fast finish Mirre Knaven was fastest, ahead of teammate Julia Kopecky. Eilidh Shaw (Alba) from Great Britain finished third.
As a result, the Belgian AG Insurance team was able to enjoy victory in three of the four stages of the Tour de Feminin, as well as topping all the classifications. Julia Kopecky was the overall winner, the best U23 rider, the winner of the points competition and the best Czech rider. Mirre Knaven was named best female climber and AG Insurance won the team classification.
Julia Kopecky was accompanied on the final podium by Femke de Vries of the Netherlands and Xaydee Van Sinaey of Belgium. Both lost more than one minute.
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