Lotte Kopecky has shed light on her injury-blighted season, and her inability to achieve the levels she had been used to. In a long form interview with Belgian outlet Het Nieuwsblad, she tells how she was reduced to tears when her Tour de France GC bid went out of the window.
Since joining SD Worx-Protime in 2022, Kopecky has been a prolific winner, without doubt among the top two or three riders in the women’s peloton. But her 2025 season never took off, her winter training ruined by a persistent knee injury, while back issues spoiled her summer campaign. In the interview, the 30-year-old double World Champion reflects on how her Tour of Flanders win was the main highlight.
“It’s my best moment of the season,” she told Nieuwblad. “The fact that it was my third victory doesn’t bother me much, I’m not really concerned with records. But winning the Ronde in the rainbow jersey, that’s something very special for me, winning one of the most iconic races in the most iconic jersey.”
“The contrast with recent years is too great. It’s true that I made the best of it given the circumstances. My victory in the Ronde somewhat rectifies everything. Take that away, and we’re talking about, in my opinion, a truly dramatic year.”
“It’s a year in which I learned a lot. How important a good winter is and if I have a bad day, I have to stay calm and keep believing in myself. A few days or a week later my form can return. Like in the Ronde after Dwars door Vlaanderen, or in 2024 in Paris-Roubaix after the Ronde.”
Despite finishing fifth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a race she now realises she can win in future, Kopecky continued to struggle, a back problem now the issue. After failing to finish the Giro d’Italia Women, the low point came at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, where the opening stage…
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