A dialled Lidl-Trek leadout launched Clara to victory at the Belgian one day race
Just 45 kilometres southwest of Oudenaarde – where the Ronde van Vlaanderen had finished 24 hours earlier – lies Mouscron, tucked into Wallonie on the Belgian-French border. As cycling fans managed the comedown from De Ronde, they were handed one more spectacle.
Lidl-Trek lined up with five riders, all fresh having not raced the day prior, and lead by French sprinter Clara Copponi. Roadside crowds enjoyed a rare treat: five passages of the peloton over a repeated 25km circuit, 125km in total. Several riders tried to attack throughout the race, including repeated attempts by Lidl-Trek’s Margot Vanpachtenbeke and Loes Adegeest. However, in the end, the peloton nullified all escape attempts. Lidl-Trek prepared for the sprint, positioning Copponi with a formidable sprint train. The French sprinter emerged into the wind in the final two hundred metres, surging ahead on the slight uphill to take a clear victory, and enough time to recreate her iconic victory pose from the Schwalbe Classic in Australia last year.
In Clara’s words…
“I felt good in the last races, and here I had my chance and I was able to finish off the work of the team. We really wanted a hard race and I think we did it. We all had a chance and all played our part well. In the last lap, I trusted my teammates and they did a great job getting me in position and then I had a nice sprint. The victory feels good personally, and also for the team because we have not had many this year. In any case, it’s a race in the middle of all the big races, like Flanders, where my teammates had a great race. I hope the victory will motivate the team for more success to come.”
