The Simac Ladies Tour went to Belgium for the individual time trial, where Lotte Kopecky was loudly cheered by the many spectators. "That I could win my first time trial victory in the WorldTour in my own country gave extra motivation this morning. It was nice to get all that support. When you're busy with your effort, you don't really see the people next to the road, but of course you hear them. My sport director Danny Stam also reminded me by saying: 'Look at all these people here, they are here for you hey.' That gave an extra boost."
"I knew this short time trial was within my capabilities, that's why I had made it a goal. If you want to win the final classification in such stage races, you need to have a good time trial. I am satisfied that I have made steps in this, but I am not going to focus on it. After all, you can only become a specialist if you focus entirely on time trial. And I already have enough to focus on," Kopecky said with a smile.
"It's different to win a time trial as a solo win or a sprint victory," Kopecky continued. "You cross the finish line with the best time and then you don't control anything yourself and you have to wait for everyone else to finish. I wasn't nervous, no. I let it come to me. This time trial victory makes me happy. Tomorrow normally awaits a sprint stage. Then we will again draw the card of Lorena Wiebes. The previous lead-out didn't go perfectly. We will try to do everything right tomorrow, and hopefully we can win again."
