In both men’s and women’s Olympic road race, a big showdown between traditional powerhouses, Belgium and Netherlands, are expected. And while in men’s race it’ll be Belgians with numbers advantage, the card will turn around in women’s race, where an internal battle of SD Worx – Protime will unfold. It’ll be up to world champion Lotte Kopecky to handle Dutch super team with leader Lorena Wiebes, who’ll have the support of stars Demi Vollering and Marianne Vos.
Speaking to WielerFlits, Vollering doesn’t mind letting her SD Worx teammate Lorena Wiebes take the leadership. “Of course, it’s not necessarily my course. I think it’s very logical that Lorena is the leader, because if you take her to the finish line, you can be almost certain that you’ll get a very good result in return.”
Should Kopecky then base her race around the actions of top favorite Lorena Wiebes? “No, that would be very stupid. I would prefer to get rid of her, but I am not going to start with the thought: today my goal is to get rid of Lorena,” Kopecky assures. Still, it’s obvious the Belgian favourite will have to keep an eye on the Dutch sprinter and arriving to the line together doesn’t seem like a winning tactic.
Wiebes admits that knowing Kopecky views her among main opponents puts a smile on her face, as “that is a great compliment. My goal is to hang on to it as long as possible. I see Lotte as one of the main competitors in that. Especially because the course is somewhat reminiscent of the street circuit of the World Championship in Glasgow with twists and turns where she won the world title last year.”
