{"id":250273,"date":"2026-06-26T15:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T15:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/26\/lotte-claes-unseats-lotte-kopecky-as-the-new-elite-womens-time-trial-title-at-the-belgian-road-championships\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T15:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T15:36:12","slug":"lotte-claes-unseats-lotte-kopecky-as-the-new-elite-womens-time-trial-title-at-the-belgian-road-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/26\/lotte-claes-unseats-lotte-kopecky-as-the-new-elite-womens-time-trial-title-at-the-belgian-road-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Lotte Claes unseats Lotte Kopecky as the new elite women&#8217;s time trial title at the Belgian Road Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-a3c38dbe-3b99-44dc-9a56-cf1cb93d6b91\">Lotte Claes (Fenix-Premier Tech) claimed the elite women&#8217;s individual time trial at the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/belgian-road-championships\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/belgian-road-championships\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/belgian-road-championships\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Belgian Road Championships<\/a> on Friday. It was a strong <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/tag\/performance\/\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/tag\/performance\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/tag\/performance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">performance<\/a> and a surprise unseating Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) from an eighth consecutive victory in the discipline.<\/p>\n<p>Claes covered the 20.7km course with the winning time of 29:05, beating Sandrine Tas (Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 Ladies) by 12 seconds and Margot Vanpachtenbeke (Lidl-Trek) by 28 seconds. Kopecky finished fourth at 31 seconds back.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-a3c38dbe-3b99-44dc-9a56-cf1cb93d6b91-2\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">The Belgian Road Championships kicked off on Friday with the time trials, where the elite women raced across an undulating 20.7km course with about 200 metres of elevation gain in Etikhove, a small section of Maarkedal.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-6 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-[10px] lg:my-8\" data-component-name=\"JwPlayer:Carousel\" data-jwp-carousel=\"\" data-jwp-carousel-payload=\"{&quot;ids&quot;:{&quot;playerID&quot;:&quot;jYDCcabO&quot;,&quot;searchPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;gwjdoYHD&quot;,&quot;divID&quot;:&quot;botr_gwjdoYHD_jYDCcabO_div&quot;,&quot;fallbackPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;gwjdoYHD&quot;,&quot;fallbackDivID&quot;:&quot;botr_gwjdoYHD_jYDCcabO_div&quot;,&quot;key&quot;:&quot;X9\\\/mXVGac0NphghLH9hZaqWA5d3dhAM\\\/Ih07grnEyMLjuO2E&quot;,&quot;tintLogo&quot;:true,&quot;useSearchPlaylist&quot;:false,&quot;enabled&quot;:true},&quot;signPostingEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;signPostingLinkEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;waitForAdLoad&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnDesktop&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnMobile&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnTablet&quot;:false}\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-nowrap items-center justify-between gap-3 bg-zinc-900 px-[14px] py-3\" data-jwp-carousel-header=\"\">\n<div class=\"flex min-w-0 shrink items-center\"><span class=\"inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 text-sm font-article-heading capitalize leading-5 text-white whitespace-nowrap\"><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-mobile\"\/><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-desktop\">Latest Videos From<\/span><span class=\"jwp-carousel-brand inline-flex items-center\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"aspect-video w-full min-h-[200px] lg:min-h-[330px] relative overflow-hidden bg-black\" data-jwp-carousel-container=\"\">\n<div class=\"absolute inset-0 size-full items-center justify-center bg-white\" data-jwp-carousel-fallback=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/flexiimages\/gmvwmhupgi1715762145.svg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/flexiimages\/gmvwmhupgi1715762145.svg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/flexiimages\/gmvwmhupgi1715762145.svg\" class=\"rounded-[var(--image--border-radius,0)] max-h-12 w-auto\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">The only two inclines on the course were a 900-metre hill with an average gradient of 6.4% that peaked at the 1km mark, and a 500-metre hill with an average gradient of 5.6% located at the 13.5km mark.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">The organisers of the event, in consultation with the riders&#8217; union and the teams, made the decision to shorten the elite men&#8217;s time trial due to the current heatwave in Europe, and temperatures reaching 34\u00b0C in the area.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-2 pb-0 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,1em)] uppercase sm:text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,0.875em)] font-bold&#10;        \"><br \/>\n            You may like<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">With a few technical sections, riders were asked to exercise caution on their time-trial bikes.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Audrey De Keersmaeker (Picnic-Post NL) was the first rider off the starting ramp at 3:24:30 local time, and Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) was the last rider to start her time trial at 3:50:00, in her attempt to win a remarkable eighth consecutive elite women&#8217;s time trial title.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-NyfduUJz8abpvBREqNhvTW\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-NyfduUJz8abpvBREqNhvTW slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Shari Bossuyt (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) set the first benchmark with a fast intermediate time check, but that was short-lived as Tess Moerman (AG-Insurance Soudal) crossed the line six seconds faster. Claes stormed across the intermediate checkpoints and the finish line with the benchmark time of 29:05. Tas and Vanpachtenbeke were the next fastest on course.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">By the time Kopecky started and hit the first time check with the fourth fastest time, it was apparent that she would struggle to gain time back in the last sections of the course, ultimately finishing in fourth place.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-results\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\"\/><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-body__section kiosq-b\" id=\"section-results\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><span>Results<\/span><\/h3>\n<p id=\"elk-b0d0ceb5-36bb-48f7-8d06-d441957425c8\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\"><strong>Results powered by <\/strong><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/firstcycling.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-url=\"https:\/\/firstcycling.com\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\"><strong>FirstCycling<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-55e44dfa-c6c1-41ac-b4d0-035100e9f9b3\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\"\/><iframe allow=\"\" height=\"410\" width=\"100%\" id=\"\" style=\"\" class=\"position-center kiosq-b\" data-lazy-priority=\"low\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/firstcycling.com\/widget\/?r=14334&amp;y=2026&amp;lang=EN&amp;cn=1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/lotte-claes-unseats-lotte-kopecky-as-the-new-elite-womens-time-trial-title-at-the-belgian-road-championships\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lotte Claes (Fenix-Premier Tech) claimed the elite women&#8217;s individual time trial at the Belgian Road Championships on Friday. It was a strong performance and a surprise unseating Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) from an eighth consecutive victory in the discipline. Claes covered the 20.7km course with the winning time of 29:05, beating Sandrine Tas (Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":250274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6804],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-250273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}