La Vuelta Femenina stage 4: Kopecky Buries Frustration

It was fourth time lucky Wednesday for Lotte Kopecky at La Vuelta Femenina.

The Belgian powerhouse unleashed a huge sprint for a victory that had been long-time coming after three near misses in three days.

Kopecky’s superdomestique Anna van der Breggen placed second on Wednesday’s stage 4. She played MVP in the final kilometer by sitting on the Belgian’s wheel to disrupt the rival sprinters.

Kopecky, Van der Breggen, and the SD Worx massive were in raptures at the line after fortune finally turned their way at the Spanish tour.

Kopecky had finished second on stage 1, was relegated after late mechanical chaos on stage 2, and was denied by Cédrine Kerbaol’s surprise attack on stage 3.

“Two times second, one time not so great,” Kopecky said at the finish, visibly relieved. “We really believed as a team we could win, but we had to wait for it.”

It couldn’t have been much better on Wednesday for the team that once dominated the Women’s WorldTour but has been threatened by new superteams.

SD Worx-Protime fully committed to Kopecky through the final and were rewarded with a victory that put their leader into the red jersey.

Overnight GC leader Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez) finished fifth at the line and on the same time as Kopecky, but lost out on bonuses.

She drops to second overall, six seconds back.

“The last three days we were not so lucky,” Van der Breggen said at the finish. “Every time almost, but something went wrong. Today the motivation was really high.

“When it’s not working, it gets worse and worse.”

Patience pays off for SD Worx-Protime

SD Worx-Protime left it late to reel in the final breakaway riders on Wednesday, but it worked out perfect.

Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek) and Marta Jaskulksa (Human Powered Health) were hoovered up at little more than 2km to go, leaving SD Worx only a few opportunistic attacks to control before the final gallop.

“This was the easiest stage of the race so far, but the final was really hard,” Kopecky said. “At one point, I thought we weren’t going to catch the break any more.

“Luckily my teammates were on fire and could respond to the final attacks, and I just had to jump from wheel to wheel.

“With Anna in second place as well, it’s great.”

Kopecky will wear her new red jersey into another sprint stage on Thursday. After that, the notorious summits of Les Praeres and Angliru loom in to view.

La Vuelta Femenina stage 4 results