
At the press conference the day before stage 1 of the UAE Tour Women, world champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) was cautiously noncommittal about her GC chances, only saying that she wasn’t in Tour de France form yet but would try her best.
Three days later, Kopecky stood atop the podium on the Jebel Hafeet after having beaten all others, won the queen stage, and taken the overall lead.