Epic ride by Kopecky at Dwars door het Hageland
14 June 2025
A tough day chasing in the dust at Dwars door het Hageland left Matyas Kopecky battered and empty at the finish in Diest after the Team Novo Nordisk rider produced a memorable performance to finish 11th after spending much of the race chasing and jumping from group to group.
A wet start in Aarschot belied what was to come at Dwars door het Hgeland as the blazing sun soon broke through and the race of mixed terrain where anything can happen didn’t disappoint for the neutral, but proved to be a a chaotic day out for many.
Versatile Czech sprinter Kopecky has been enjoying a stellar season to date and was keen to replicate his top ten finish here from 2023, but after a cagey start the race exploded on one of the gravel sectors with 100km to go and split to pieces. Shortly after the youngster suffered an untimely flat and was left chasing for the rest of the race.
“It’s frustrating but it’s part and parcel of racing here,” said Kopecky. “When you’re jumping from, asphalt to gravel to cobbles and back again at high speed literally anything can happen and a lot of guys had flats, there was plenty of action throughout today where everything happened.”
“That all makes for a more exciting race though and the adrenalin was really pumping, I chased full gas for the last 40km and actually felt really strong, I made up a lot of ground and considering how the race went 11th is a good result today.”