Surprise in BK for women: Kim de Baat triumphs in Middelkerke and shares a kiss with Sanne Cant | Instagram HLN

All eyes were on Lotte Kopecky around 11 this morning. She is a two-time Belgian champion and, of course, a top favorite today. “One against all”, it sounded at Kopecky. A fairly short ride of 119.9 kilometers had to make a decision about the Belgian tricolor.

The pace picked up half way up, which meant that nothing was left of the small group of refugees. The prize for the fighting spirit went to Kim de Baat, who was involved in almost every attack attempt in and around Middelkerke. The many attacks – once also with Kopecky and Cant – were to no avail, because the peloton kept control.

On the last lap a group of six broke away. Again with Kim de Baat, also with Bastiaenssen, Hendrickx, Maes, Meertens and Van Eynde. The peloton suddenly had to make up for it with 5 kilometers to go. Kopecky’s teammates did everything they could, but the escapees were kept out of harm’s way. Castrique also joined the six in the front. De Baat clearly showed himself to be the strongest in the sprint.

“I’m glad it’s done. I looked up to it. It’s the hardest game to win,” Kopecky said. “I didn’t feel like everyone wanted to race against me. It was difficult to control the match. Plantur is a large and strong team. I didn’t even think about making the jump, something Castrique did. Maybe I should have done that too.”

“I don’t really understand it yet. I am not a winner, but I always race”, said a proud De Baat. “It would never have been possible without the help of the team. I never believed we could stay ahead. In the last kilometers I was against the cramps. I didn’t know if I would still be able to sprint. I was shocked that Castrique appeared next to me. She started at 200 meters from the finish and that was actually ideal for me.”

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