SD Worx-Protime foiled in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as Lidl-Trek, Vos play numbers game

SD Worx-Protime lined up as out-and-out favourites for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad with world champion Lotte Kopecky topping the odds to defend her title, and Demi Vollering and Lorena Wiebes as back-up plans de luxe.

Despite that status, though, SD Worx-Protime suffered a rare defeat in Ninove, with Kopecky only managing second as she sprinted from a select group, yielding victory to Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike).

The Dutch team were practically unbeatable in the Classics this time last year, and had been hoping to kick off their Spring to similar success, but were outmuscled by other riders and teams on Saturday.

Read more: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad – Marianne Vos takes comeback victory in women's race

“I was on the start line to win the race, so at this moment we are not always happy with second place,” Kopecky said at the finish, clearly disappointed. “But I mean it’s the first big race of the season and I think we rode a good race. I tried my best and that’s the most important thing at the moment.”

But how did it go wrong for the often dominant team? Put simply, other teams were able to put SD Worx-Protime on the back foot and take advantage of the gaps in their roster.

The team had been in a solid position for most of the day, patrolling things at the front of the peloton as they usually do, but when Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) launched her move on the Haaghoek, no one from SD Worx followed and they were suddenly put on the defensive.

“We really wanted to be offensive today, to try to isolate SD Worx and all the other teams as much as possible,” Longo Borghini explained at the finish, after succeeding in that aim.

“I found myself in the front, and I asked the director if I had to go and he said yes. And then when I knew that Shirin was in the second peloton behind me, I thought it was a very good opportunity for us.”

Demi Vollering took up the responsibility of chasing, with Lizzie Deignan sitting on wheel slightly disrupting the chase. It was at this point that the absence of Marlen Reusser was most felt – the Swiss rider didn’t start the race, and SD Worx were missing their best option for chasing moves like this down.

Lorena Wiebes also chipped in on the Berendries, with the onus to chase clearly lying on SD Worx – and other teams successfully refusing to contribute – they began to burn through their matches for kilometre after kilometre behind a strong Longo Borghini.

By the time the Muur van Geraardsbergen arrived, SD Worx only had one card to play, and that was for Lotte Kopecky to launch a move on the climb. That she duly did, but after working in the chase she had enough force to catch Longo Borghini but not enough to drop the likes of Marianne Vos and Shirin van Anrooij.

From there, Kopecky, Vos, Van Anrooij and Longo Borghini became four in the front, and Kopecky was in the rare position of being isolated yet outnumbered – usually if Kopecky is without teammates, it’s because she’s solo. Unfortunately, the world champion had dropped her tired teammates, so she was alone in the group.

As a result, Lidl-Trek were able to tag-team attacks, forcing Kopecky onto the defensive once again, as she struggled to find a spot to attack herself on the flat run-in. As a result, it was a tired Kopecky that came to the finish, and therefore a faster, motivated Vos that sprinted to the victory.

Though Lidl-Trek perhaps came off worst in the results, taking only third and fourth, it was their efforts that ultimately got the better of SD Worx, and their team strength is perhaps the closest to the Dutch super team this year.

“We tried every single opportunity to win the race, and in the race we ended up third and fourth, but in the end we battled for the win, which is the most important thing,” Longo Borghini said. “I think today we really showed that as a team we are strong and we like to ride offensively.”

Despite her disappointment, Kopecky was quick to praise Vos, who is coming back from a third round of iliac artery surgery.

“We know that she’s a fast rider. It’s actually good to see her back in this shape because last year we didn’t see the rider that Marianne is, so as a rider I’m very happy that she’s back at this level, and I only have respect for Marianne,” she said.

After Saturday’s rare SD Worx loss, other teams should take confidence and lessons going into the rest of the Classics: the Dutch superstars can be beaten, especially when they are a rider down, they just really need to be forced into the chase.

That said, however, one missed victory possibly doesn’t mean much for SD Worx, and they will still be the big favourites heading into most of the Classics, not least tomorrow’s Opening Weekend follow-up at the Omloop van het Hageland, where Lorena Wiebes is expected to win again.

But if and when SD Worx-Protime does show weaknesses, teams like Lidl-Trek and Visma-Lease a Bike will be there to exploit them this Spring.