Lotte Kopecky won Danilith Nokere Koerse on Wednesday before rounding out a fine week with Saturday’s Milan-Sanremo Donne title. Kopecky beat four others in a sprint on the Via Roma. Canada’s Sarah van Dam survived a nasty airborne crash to come 25th.

Preliminaries

Last year Lorena Wiebes beat out Marianne Vos, Noemi Rüegg, Demi Vollering and eight others in a classic showdown of the elites. Magdeleine Vallieres Mill was top Canadian in 20th.

Olivia Baril, Kiara Lylyk (Mayenne Monbana My Pie), Van Dam, Alison Jackson and Clara Emond made up the Canadian contingent.

Baril (in white) takes the day’s intermediate sprint in the Tour Down Under.

The Course

The women would take on the Ligurian Coast section of the men’s race, starting back in Genoa, for 156 km in total. First the riders would face the three Capi starting at the 97.5 km mark. Kilometre 128.5 was where 6-km Cipressa made a selection. The famed Poggio crested with 6 km to the line. A harrowing descent past the greenhouses led to the finish line on Via Roma.

156 km from Genoa to San Remo. Image by La FlammeRouge

A nontet of breakaway riders–all from different teams–bounced free early and had a 3:40 lead with 90 km. SD Worx-Protime put its back into the peloton pace work as the Capi loomed on the horizon.

SD Worx working on the front.

The fugitives’ lead was under 2:00 by Capo Mele and Capo Berta pared down the group to a trio barely ahead of the peloton. The catch was made before the Cipressa. The women charged up the famous climb. Kasia Niewiadoma pushed hard at the front, and when a septet broke clear, its members dithered, swelling the numbers. The Pole went again. Puck Pieterse was prominent among the 20, keeping calm. Van Dam was there. Visma’s Lieke Nooijen did a flyer, cresting alone.

A horrible crash on Cipressa’s descent wrecked a quarter of the leading group, one rider taking a long plunge onto the pavement below the road. Van Dam also crashed from a scary height but was able to carry on. Niewiadoma and last year’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner Kim Le Court were out.

Now there were 50 riders chasing Nooijen, 17 seconds separating them with 12 km to go.

On the Poggio, Nooijen returned to the group, a Cofidis rider taking over her role. Pieterse attacked in the steepest final kilometer, decanting the group going over the top.

Pieterse lights it up on the Poggio.

Pieterse, Rüegg, Kopecky and two UAE Team ADQ riders, 2025 Tour de France fourth place Dominika Włodarczyk and Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini, galloped towards the Via Roma. It was desperate stuff for the quintet to stay away. Kopecky burst from the handful of riders and couldn’t be stopped.

The next round of the Women’s WorldTour is the Ronde van Brugge on Wednesday.

2026 Milan-Sanremo Donne
1) Lotte Kopecky (Belgium/SD Worx-Protime 3:47:17
2) Noemi Rüegg (Switzerland/EF Education-Oatly) s.t.
3) Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini (Italy/UAE Team ADQ) s.t.
25) Sarah Van Dam (Canada/Visma-Lease a Bike) s.t.
44) Clara Emond (Canada/St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93) +0:22
55) Alison Jackson (Canada/St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93) +3:56