PARIS, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Reigning world champion Lotte Kopecky may be from Belgium but she hopes to get some neighborly help from the Dutch in Sunday's women's cycling road race at the Paris Olympics.
Speaking to the Dutch newspaper Wielerflits, Kopecky said she wasn't certain how the 158km race would develop, however, she admitted her Belgian teammates Justine Ghekiere, Julie Van de Velde and Margot Vanpachtenbeke might not be quite as strong as a Dutch quartet of Lorena Wiebes, Marianne Vos, Ellen van Dijk and Demi Vollering.
Kopecky said she was "pretty convinced" her teammates had "the qualities to be at the end of the race, depending on how it goes," and if they weren't able to give her support in the closing circuits of Paris, it will be because "the race was really tough and they had to work really hard."
She was hoping that the Dutch team would try to control the race, which would help preserve the legs of her companions for the closing kilometers.
"I hope they will control it, because they do have one of the top favorites (Wiebes - a powerful sprinter) in their ranks," said Kopecky.
Three years ago in Tokyo, the Dutch were also expected to dominate the race, but failed to chase down a solo attack from Austria's Anna Kiesenhofer, who opened a big lead and held on for a surprise gold medal.
"Somewhere they have to take some responsibility. We saw how things could go wrong in Tokyo, which was a great shame for them. If necessary, we will also communicate very well among ourselves, but I do not intend to burn out teammates at the beginning of the race," advised Kopecky, adding that she expected a relatively slow start as teams looked to preserve their riders.
"It's not a super difficult course, but it will be a grueling race because it's hard to control," said Kopecky, who said Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini, Vos and time trial winner, Grace Brown were all in with the chance of a medal. ■
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