After two days of struggle at the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Tour de France Femmes, Lotte Kopecky says, "the fun factor is a bit lac𒆙king💃 at the moment"

The world champion has endured a disappointing start to the Grand Tour in Brittany and heads into stage 3 already almost three minu🐻tes off the race lead with th🃏e hardest days of the race yet to come.

Before the Grand Départ, Kopecky said a stage win would be the limit of her ambitions following a 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:back injury at the recent Giro d'Italia Women. But af🧜ter a punishing opening weekend, she's now just eyeing 🍸the end of the race, she said in Quimper after stage 2.

"The fun factor is very important to me and it's a bit lacking at the moment," Kopecky told the assembled media after the hilly race around Finistère, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:won by Mavi García.

"I've had some great seasons in the past years, so to be riding around like this seas♔on in this jersey is difficult menta🌺lly.

"Ideally, I'd like it to be next Sundaജy as soon as possible," she added, referring to the race's conclusion in Châtel. "Hopefully, we'll have been able to achieve something beautiful with the team at this Tour by then. But I'll have to put my personal ambitions𝔉 aside."

Kopecky's first two results of the race, 43rd in Plumelec and 48th in Quimper𝄹, rank some way short of what she might've hoped for, and a worldജ away from her most recent outing in France.

Two years ago, she finished second overall, wore yellow, and won the points classification, picking up a stage win in Clermo🉐nt-Ferrand to boot.

Sunday's stage saw her drop from the peloton on the final climb of the day, the fourth-category C&🦩ocirc;te du Chemin de Trohéir, before battling her way back to the front of the peloton at 1.5km to go f𝓰or a 700-metre pull.

The efforts of her and her 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:SD Worx-Protime teammaꦯtes weren't enough to bring García b𓆏ack and deliver Lorena Wiebes to victory, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

"I had a hard time on the climb today, but they said in my earpiece, 'Lotte, we'll need you ꦓlater.' I tried to get back and make one last effort. Unfortunately, we came up a bit short, but I'm glad I was still able to do something, even if it was only a few hundred metres," Kopecky said, before team manager Danny Stam admitted that his team alone didn't have the firepower to catch the Spaniard.

"I don't think we und🦩erestimated [García]. We didn't have riders to close it," he said. "Lotte tried everything she had, and the moment that Anna took over then they started sprinting already.

"When you get second, then you can ask 'OK, did you underestimate?' but we just didn't have the people to close it. Lotte was dropped before she came back🦂, and she directly started chasing."

Despite a rough first two days, the Dutch squad do have some positives to p💫oi😼nt towards. Anna van der Breggen is firmly in contention among the top 10, while Wiebes is second in the points classification with two stages suited to her coming up on Monday and Tuesday.

For Kopeckꦿy, though, the remaining seven days of the Tour could be long ones.

"The feeling isn't great, and that's quite frustrating. I'm not someone who makes excuses. It'💖s just not working," she said.

"I had a long preparation, and I've been away▨ from home for a lon🌊g time. I wanted to start well, but it has all gone wrong."

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our Tour de France Femmes coverage. Don't miss any of the breaking news, reports, and analysis from one of the biggest women's stage races of the season. 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Find our more