Lotte Kopecky took back-to-back wins at the 2024 Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Women, powering to the second stage victory in Wrexham after a breakaway with British rider Anna Henderson.
Womens Tour of Britain Stage 2
KOPECKY MAKES IT TWO FROM TWO AT THE 2024 LLOYDS BANK TOUR OF BRITAIN WOMEN (BC press release)
Lotte Kopecky took back-to-back wins at the 2024 Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Women, powering to the second stage victory in Wrexham after a breakaway with British rider Anna Henderson.
Photo: Tour of Britain Social Media
The world champion stormed up the iconic Horseshoe Pass at a blistering pace, breaking away from the peloton with Henderson hot on her wheel, before beating the Brit in a sprint finish after tackling 140.2km and 1,570m of climbing.
It was a steady start out of Wrexham’s town centre, with the peloton staying together and embracing the crowds, before Franziska Koch made the first big move of the day around 30km in.
Reaching the first Queen of the Mountains (QOM) of the day at 88km in, Koch remained unchallenged, and had increased her lead to three minutes and 15 seconds. With a distance of 1.4km and average elevation of 3%, Koch took Eyton Hill in her stride to take maximum QOM points, while a strong sprint behind saw Heidi Franz cross the line second and the current jersey holder, Lizzie Deigan take third.
The peloton slowly started to reel Koch back in, reducing the gap to a minute as the German rider also took the intermediate sprint solo at the 93km mark. A battle for second and third saw Charlotte Kool and Kopecky go shoulder to shoulder, with the Dutch rider just edging out ahead of the race leader. Koch was shortly caught by the peloton, but secured the Combativity award of the day for her efforts.
The race was set alight as the riders battled up the second Queen of the Mountain climb on Horseshoe Pass, with Kopecky taking the 4.2km climb and 6.4% gradient in her stride. The Belgium rider showed her world champion class, accelerating effortlessly from the front of the peloton to form a gap, with Henderson straight on her wheel. Deignan attacked to take third on the classification and retain her Queen of the Mountains jersey.
Henderson and Kopecky continued to build a short lead on the peloton, with the gap growing to 38 seconds coming into the final 10km of the race.
Photo: Tour of Britain Social Media
Heading into Wrexham, Henderson tried to mount a last gasp attack on the world champion, but was no match for Kopecky, who stormed to her second win of this year’s Tour of Britain Women and crossed the line with her arms outstretched. The chasing peloton crossed the line 20 seconds later with sprint queen Lorena Wiebes powering to third.
Kopecky’s win sees the Belgium rider maintain the leader’s jersey and sprinters jersey, while Henderson now sits in the Best of British jersey. Deignan remains top of the Queen of the Mountains category, while Elise Jansen’s 10th place sees her maintain the Young Rider jersey. With two riders on the podium today, SD-Worx ProTime maintain the team classification.
Speaking on her second stage win, Kopecky said: “It couldn’t have gone better, I am really happy with today’s race. It was nice to get Anna with me in the break today, and I wasn’t prepared to try something after the longer climb. I knew what the finish would look like, and I didn’t panic, and it’s been another really good day for our team.”
Henderson said: “I am really happy, bittersweet I think. I was super happy to go with Lotte and be on par with her physically up the climb. But being that close to the win, I am disappointed but happy with my second race back after breaking my collarbone.”
On the team’s potential to win an upcoming stage, Henderson said: “I think we can, we have a lot of strength in the team and it is a big ambition for us as a team to win a stage.”
Deignan added: “We have a really strong group of women now, it is exciting. I think it is the first time we can say that we have four strong road riders that could potentially medal in Paris. It is always nice to take a trip to the podium, being in the Queen of the Mountain jersey, and win some flowers. My mum is here so extra motivation there!”
Tomorrow’s third stage will start and finish in front of the iconic Golden Gates of Warrington Town Hall, with the peloton immediately heading south, crossing the River Mersey and Great Manchester Canal. Riders will then pass the stunning Walton Hall and Gardens before breezing through the picturesque Cheshire West and Chester villages of Higher Whitley, Great Budworth and Wincham.
Brits
2. Anna Henderson
5. Pfeiffer Georgi
9. Lizzie Deignan
11. Elinor Barker
15. Flora Perkins
19. Abi Smith
29. Eilidh Shaw
33. Grace Lister
34. Lucy Lee
35. Amy Gornall
42. Ruth Shier
43. Elynor Backstedt
45. Millie Couzens
49. Jess Finney
50. Caitlin Dimbleby
51. Bexy Dew
52. Lucy Harris
53. Arianne Holland
57. Beth Morrow
59. Lucy Gadd
60. Maddie Leech
61. Alice Wood
62. Abigail Plowman
63. Alice McWilliam
64. Kim Baptista
66. Neah Evans
67. Jo Tindley
75. Isabel Darvill
81. Lucy Nelson
GC (Kopecky leads)
2. Anna Henderson
4. Pfeiffer Georgi
5. Lizzie Deignan (QoM)
11. Elinor Barker
Full result here on First Cycling
Send your results as well as club, team & event news here
Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)
- Features, Reports, Results
- Sponsor Feature: Food at CHS Ciclismo (Spain)
- NEWS! Max Walker joins EF Education-EasyPost
- World Tour win for Ethan Vernon
- CX Result: Scottish Cyclocross Series 2
- Louise Sutton signs for Euskaltel Euskadi Team
- Crit Result: Full Gas Winter Series #3
- HC Result: Sid Valley CC Hill Climb
- TT Result: Chelmer CC GP Des Gentlemen
- HC Result: BEC CC Hill Climb
- CX Result: Welsh Cyclo-Cross League Rd 3
- CX Result: North West Cyclocross League 4
- HC Result: Scottish Hill Climb Championships 2024
- CX Result: SWCX 3 (Devon)
- HC Result: Lancashire Road Club Hill Climb
- CX Result: Lincolnshire Cyclo Cross League 3
- CX Result: Central CycloCross League 5
- CX Result: Houghton Cycling Club Hill Climb
- HC Result: Bolsover And District CC Hill Climb
- HC Result: Catford CC Hill Climb
- CX Result: Western CX Round 4 (Upton Cheyney)
- CX Result: CXNE League 2024 Rd 4
- CX Result: Leicestershire Cyclo Cross League Rd 2
- HC Result: Severn RC Hill Climb
- CX Result: Shimano Lazer West Midlands Cyclocross League Round 5
- CX Result: Wessex Cyclocross League Round 5 (Southampton)
- HC Result: Tickhill Velo Club Hill Climb
- CX Result: Yorkshire Points CX League 2
- HC Result: East Sussex CA Hill Climb
- HC Result: Huddersfield Star Whs Hill Climb
- HC Result: Beachy Head Cycling Club Hill Climb
- HC Result: Rutland CC Hill Climb (Mam Nick)
- CX Result: Central CX League 4
- CX Result: South West CX League 2
- HC Result: Drighlington Bicycle Club Hill Climb
- Sponsored Feature: Renting your own private retreat in Spain
- HC Result: Welsh CA Hill Climb Champs
- STARTLIST: Scottish National Hill Climb Championships 2024
- BMCR Result: Chairman’s Race (Oct 6)
- HC Result: Fibrax Wrexham RC Hill Climb
- CX Result: Lincolnshire Cyclo-cross League 2
Other News on VeloUK
- NEWS! Max Walker joins EF Education-EasyPost
- World Tour win for Ethan Vernon
- Louise Sutton signs for Euskaltel Euskadi Team
- STARTLIST: Scottish National Hill Climb Championships 2024
- Rider News: Ben Marsh off to France to race
- Report/Result: World Gravel Championships
- This Weekend (Oct 5/6): National Trophy Cyclocross Round 1
- IOM 2024 YOUTH LEAGUE FINAL OVERALL
- Holiday Rentals: Escape to Casa Guadalest (Spain)
- Sponsor News: Custom Clothing from Santini
- News: Ribble launches the Allroad Ti – Crafted for More
- NEWS: The Pedal Club Lunch — September with Jez Cox
- Ultimate Cycling Experience at CHS Ciclismo
- Worlds: Great Britain Riders for 2024 Road Worlds
- Rider Report: Alistair Gardner wins two Kermesses
- EVENTS: Portmore Classic (29th of September, Dorset)
- STARTLIST: National Youth (GHS) Championship Final
- Tour of Britain: Provisional Startlist
- Sunday: Jef Schils Memorial (National B)
- This Weekend: RTTC National 10 mile Championship
- Q&A: Killian O’Brien – third in the Junior Tour of Wales
- TOM PIDCOCK CONFIRMED FOR LLOYDS BANK TOUR OF BRITAIN MEN
- Startlist: 42nd Junior Tour of Wales
- Startlist: 360 North West Youth Tour
- Tour of Britain: Evenepoel/Alaphilippe To Race National Tour
- GB Juniors for Track Worlds in China
- THIS WEEKEND: CYCLOCROSS (Leicestershire)
- Startlist: Men’s National B (Worcestershire)
- Startlists: Fenwicks Tour of Mendip 2024
- Startlists: 19th Ryedale Grasscrete Grand Prix Road Races
- Men’s Tour of Britain News: Teams for 2024 Race
- Men’s Tour of Britain Route Revealed (Stages 5 & 6)
- NEWS: Women’s UCI Drops Team to Close
- Startlist: Youth and Junior Track Championships 2024
- Startlist: RTTC National 25 Mile Championship (Women/JuniorsYouth)
- Startlists: RTTC National 25 Mile Championship (Men)
- Hill Climb Championships: Change of Course
- TT Result: Ross-On-Wye & Dist CC 25m TT
- News: Men’s Tour of Britain Route (Stage 1 & 2)
- GB News: Paracycling Squad for Paris 2024