In 2019, Franziska Koch won stage 4 of the Boels Ladies Tour (now Simac Ladies Tour) as a 19-year-old neo-pro. Five years on, the DSM-Firmenich PostNL rider found herself to be the best-placed rider of a 14-rider breakaway on stage 4 of the 2024 edition and worked hard to hold off the peloton and take the overall race lead, donning her career-first GC leader’s jersey.
“The group was pretty big, and my DS told me that I was the best-placed rider in GC in the group. Then I was eager to ride hard. I tried to keep the distance to the peloton as big as possible and went full gas,” Koch said after the stage.
At the finish, the breakaway still had an advantage of 36 seconds, and since Koch started the stage 31 seconds behind GC leader Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM), the German champion took over the yellow jersey, now leading by five seconds on Bäckstedt.
“It did come a bit unexpected, but my motivation is still good at the end of the season, and it’s also my first GC leader’s jersey. It’s a new experience, and I’m excited for the next days,” said Koch.
Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) is lurking in third place overall, eight seconds behind Koch. The World champion’s team has won three stages in a row with Wiebes and Guarischi who stepped up from the breakaway, and Kopecky could take the yellow jersey from Koch if she gained enough bonus seconds in the two stages still to come.
“It would be coming full circle. A stage win in 2019, if I could add the GC now, that would be great. Everything is possible. It is going to be difficult, but I will give my best and see what happens. I’m still in good shape, so I’m confident for the next two days,” Koch is ready to take on the competition.
