Latch on and finish it off: Kopecky "knew how badly Vollering wanted to win this World Championship"

"I can hardly believe it!" exclaimed the SD Worx-Protime rider in the flash interview, before quickly shifting to a more reflective tone. "First and foremost, I want to express my condolences to the family of Muriel (Furrer, ed.)," she said, referring to the young Swiss rider who had tragically passed away.

"A minute of silence was held before the race, and you could see the Swiss riders crying. That's something you never want to see," continued the Flemish winner. "I think this title is a little bit for her as well."

Kopecky then shared more about what went through her mind during those 154 kilometers filled with emotional and situational ups and downs. "It was a tough day with the cold. You'd warm up on the climbs but cool down again in the descents. By the last three laps, I was freezing. I had to keep a 'cool' head and focus on the race. I started off with confidence, because on Thursday I broke my power record for five minutes."

"I had little trouble on the steep climbs, but the longer ones were tougher," Kopecky noted, who eventually won in a sprint finish with six riders (after initially getting dropped multiple times). "When Demi (Vollering, ed.) went, I struggled. So, I chose my own pace, hoping I could come back — and I did. In the finale, there were a lot of mind games. Luckily, I was able to finish it off in the sprint."

The fact that the Dutch team came up short didn’t surprise her. During the press conference, Kopecky also touched on this. Her fellow Belgian, Justine Ghekiere, had skillfully joined Marianne Vos and Riejanne Markus. "She was very important, because that allowed me to stay calm in the peloton. Even when she slipped into the break on the steep climbs, it helped me come back. Mentally, it was reassuring to know she was up front."

"I’ve been asked so many times what I thought of the Dutch tactics, so honestly, I don’t even know how it looked on TV," Kopecky laughed. "I think you could see that some of the Dutch riders had clear roles, as they were in that breakaway group with two riders. Marianne was the fastest there, so they could have chosen to slow things down in the peloton."

"I still need to watch the race back on TV, but I think the way they raced could have been a little different," Kopecky reflected. "I knew how badly Demi wanted to win. Elisa Longo Borghini attacked hard, and I thought the race was over then and there, but Demi closed the gap. She rode incredibly strong, but I knew that if I could stay close, I could finish it off."