After claiming her first win of the season at Nokere Koerse earlier in the week, Lotte Kopecky emerged victorious once again at Milan-San Remo Donne, as she produced a powerful sprint to win from a five-rider group that had gone clear on the Poggio in the final kilometres of the race.
The SD Worx-Protime rider had followed a move by Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) towards the top of the final climb, which also dragged Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) Eleonora Gasparrini (UAE Team ADQ) and Dominika Włodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ) clear of the main group.
Efforts to extend their advantage on the descent meant that the group came onto the Via Roma with their slender lead over the chaser behind still intact. Kopecky then opened the sprint from the wheel of Włodarczyk with nobody able to come around her, as she managed to hold off Rüegg to take the victory.
The Swiss rider finished ahead of Gasparrini to claim the runner-up spot and back-to-back podium finishes at this race, after her third place in 2025. Meanwhile, last year’s winner Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) won the sprint from the group behind to finish in sixth place, before joining her teammate Kopecky in celebration once she had crossed the finish line.
“It’s just amazing,” said Kopecky in her post-race interview. “I had full support today from the team. I was also really confident after winning on Wednesday and for me, the whole race just fell into place. Our team took the responsibility when we had to and the girls did a great job to bring us into the right place towards the climbs.
“I was really happy that I could finally answer the attack on the climb,” she continued. “Going over the top, on the descent with the five of us, then I knew I just really had to be patient and also know that Lorena [Wiebes] was still behind. I think I started my sprint at the perfect moment and I’m super happy that I could finish it off.”
On her approach to the finale, the former World Champion said, “I was very attentive for a late attack from the ones behind. I knew I could not let that happen, but we were all fast in the sprint, so we gambled on a sprint and I knew that I had fast legs.”
The finale of the race was marred by a nasty crash on the descent of the Cipressa, as Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) overcooked a sharp corner and went down, causing several others to hit the deck, including some who went over the railing at the side of the road.
When asked about the descents off the Cipressa and Poggio, Kopecky said “the descents here are always tricky, it’s very important to know them well. I hope Kasia is okay after crashing on the Cipressa. The descent of the Poggio is super fast and you just need to know it by heart.”
How It Happened
At 156km in length, the women’s edition of Milan-San Remo sees the riders blast along the Italian Riviera from the city of Genoa to the Via Roma in San Remo, taking in the short climbs of the Tre Capi before the often-decisive combination of the Cipressa and Poggio, which is then followed by the twisting descent down to the finish.
It took a while for the early breakaway to form at the start of the day, but after just under 50km of racing several of the smaller teams made a move to get up the road, as Eleonora La Bella (Aromitalia Vaiano), Constance Valentin (Mayenne Monbana My Pie), Sofia Arici (Vini Fantini-BePink), Katia Ragusa (Human Powered Health), Lara Crestanello (Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria), Heidi Franz (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93), Eleonora Deotto (Mendelspeck E-Work), Sara Luccon (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) and Bodine Vollering (VolkerWessels) formed a nine-rider group at the head of the race.
They were allowed a gap of about four minutes, but that began to come down once the race neared the Tre Capi with around 50km to go, as the peloton started to get organised for the decisive moments of the race. The front group then began to splinter on the Capo Berta and they were ultimately caught with 31km to go as they approached the Cipressa.
The race then began to open up once they hit the climb, with pressure coming from Visma-Lease a Bike with Femke de Vries and Lieke Nooijen, as Marianne Vos’ absence left them without an option for the sprint. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) then came to the front to increase the pace, with Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) following in her wheel.
The Polish rider’s acceleration strung out the group, with splits beginning to form as many of the sprinters struggled to hold the wheel. As the gradient eased near the top of the climb, Nooijen then made another move off the front with 22km to go and went onto the descent of the Cipressa with a small lead over the main group behind.
An awful crash with around 18km to go saw several riders go down through a blind corner on the descent, with Niewiadoma and Le Court among those involved. Several other riders were then caught up as groups attempted to funnel their way through, with Debora Silvestri (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) going over the railing on the side of the road as she carried a lot of speed through the corner and was unable to avoid the pile-up.
Fortunately, the Italian rider was conscious, and was subsequently taken to hospital for medical examinations. Niewiadoma was also forced to abandon the race due to the crash, but managed to escape without any major injuries, with Le Court stopping to check on her at the side of the road in the immediate aftermath.
Meanwhile, at the head of the race, the crash behind had seen Nooijen extend her advantage over the heavily reduced peloton to 25 seconds, with some riders making their way back to the main group on the descent. She was being chased down by Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) and Margot Vanpachtenbeke (Lidl-Trek), as they worked to control the gap for their leaders in the group.
Nooijen was eventually brought back as the race went onto the lower slopes of the Poggio, with Nikola Nosková (Cofidis) jumping out of the peloton and going straight past the Dutch rider as she made her move with 8.5km to go.
Nosková was never allowed much of an advantage, with the peloton keeping her in sight for most of the climb, as Lidl-Trek continued to set a steady tempo for Elisa Balsamo. However, it was Puck Pieterse that would close the gap to the Czech rider, as she launched an attack with just over a kilometre to go to the top of the climb, with Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) and Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) immediately following in her wheel.
The UAE Team ADQ duo of Eleonora Gasparrini and Dominika Włodarczyk then bridged across to make it a five-rider group at the head of the race, with a handful of seconds between them and the rest of the peloton as they made their way onto the descent. Włodarczyk and Pieterse then worked to extend their advantage, using their descending abilities to push on as they plunged down towards San Remo.
Coming off the descent, it was Włodarczyk that took on the responsibility of going to the front of the group, whilst Gasparrini sat in perfect position at the back, with UAE Team ADQ clearly confident in their Italian rider’s sprinting abilities.
As they came onto the Via Roma, the Polish rider gave a final effort before peeling off, with Kopecky instantly beginning her sprint out of the wheel. Once she launched, nobody was able to come around the Belgian rider and she punched the air in celebration as she crossed the finish line.
Rüegg was forced to settle second place, as she was unable to emerge from the slipstream, but still managed to hold off Gasparrini, who left herself with too much work to do by beginning her sprint from the back of the group, whilst Pieterse simply did not have the legs after her efforts earlier in the race.
There was a close sprint behind for sixth place, with Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) narrowly beating Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-SUEZ) in the battle for the minor placings, whilst Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech) and Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) completed the top ten.
Results
Milan-San Remo Donne 2026: Genoa > San Remo (153km)
1. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime, in 3:47:17
2. Noemi Rüegg (Sui) EF Education-Oatly
3. Eleanora Gasparrini (Ita) UAE Team ADQ
4. Puck Pieterse (Ned) Fenix-Premier Tech, all at same time
5. Dominika Włodarczyk (Pol) UAE Team ADQ, +4s
6. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +9s
7. Ally Wollaston (NZl) FDJ United-SUEZ
8. Elisa Balsamo (Ita) Lidl-Trek
9. Charlotte Kool (Ned) Fenix-Premier Tech
10. Chiara Consonni (Ita) Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, all at same time
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