Before the 2023 season, the transfer of Lorena Vives from Team DSM to SD Works was a hot topic of discussion.

How will this move affect Lotte Kopecky, who has been the team's sprinter?

After finishing first and second in the traditional classic opener, the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the team silenced its critics for a moment with a special birthday present for superdomestique Christine Majerieux.

From the peloton chasing Movistar's Arlenis Sierra, Kopecký attacked in the famous Mur van Geraalsbergen, bridged to the Cuban, and dropped her in Vosberg for a solo victory.

"This is what I dreamed of happening. I knew in training camp that Lotte was very strong. She is very strong uphill and won the training race for our team. It's not a surprise to me," Demi Volering explained how the team's race plan came to fruition.

On any other team, Volering would have been the undisputed leader, but on the SD Walks, she had a super-domestic role on the Omloop.

"She said at the team briefing yesterday, 'I have confidence in Vosberg.' When Lotte says things like that, it comes true. She said that at last year's Strade Bianche and Ronde van Vlaanderen (winner of both races - editorial).

As Kopecky was riding solo toward the finish, her teammates were blocking the chase behind her, confident that even if the race was restarted again, they would have the strongest sprinter in Lorena Wiebes.

With her characteristic quiet but calm style, Vives was happy with the result.

"It's a very good start to the Classic. I saw Lotte get over the hill with no difficulty, she was very strong. I'm very happy with what she did," Vives said, turning his attention to Sunday's sprint competition in Omloop van het Haegeland.

European champion Wiebes more than held her own in the race, being in the first chase group of 10 in Mühl and steering Movistar's Riane Lippert in Vosberg.

With fast finishers like Kopecký able to attack, the fastest sprinter in the women's peloton finding resilience in the Classics, and many others on the cards, rival teams may find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place.

The winner, Kopecký, was pulled by the local media after the race as the first Belgian women's Omloop Het Niusblad winner.

"I didn't know until yesterday. But I'm happy to have it etched in the palm of my hand," she said of the milestone.

The win also brought the 27-year-old another reward: a Belgian TV producer had promised to give her bitterballen (fried meatball snacks), popular in the Low Countries, if she won Omloop.

Kopecký received the Belgian fries, which he ate in the TV studio while answering questions about his off-season weight loss of more than 3 kg.

"It's not that I was overweight; there was still room for improvement. The fries after the race proved that.

"But as you get older, it gets a little easier to lose weight, and it was obviously the right choice," she said.

"Lorena was really strong. We are in good shape for the spring and we help each other out. There's a good connection within the team. Sometimes there is give and take," Kopecky continued.

With races such as Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche, and the Tour of Flanders in hand, the Belgian is especially looking forward to the spring classics.

"Paris-Roubaix has been on my mind for a while," she said, hinting at a shot at the famous Pavé Trophy.

In 2022, Kopecký finished second in the small group sprint behind lone winner Elisa Longo Borghini.