Lotte Kopecky and Jasper Philipsen have been crowned as the Flandrien and Flandrienne riders of the year at the Het Nieuwsblad awards ceremony in Ostend, with Kopecky completing a rare double, after also winning the Kristallen Fiets award in October.
European Champion Fleur Moors won the Junior award, Alec Segaert the Under 23 award, while Mathieu van der Poel was named as the International Flandrien for his world title and Classics success. Peter Sagan and Greg van Avermaet were given the Lifetime Achievement Award and were present in Ostend, with Sagan keen to point out he has retired from WorldTour road racing but not mountain biking, with the 2024 Paris Olympics still a goal.
Kopecky also won the Grand Prix Patrick Sercu award for winning the elimination and the points race world titles on the track and confirming her multitude of talents. She has now won the Flandrienne award for four consecutive years.
In an online reader vote, Kopecky’s success at the Tour de France Femmes and how she fought but ultimately failed to keep the yellow jersey on the Col du Tourmalet was selected as biggest ‘spark’ moment of the season, ahead of Wout Van Aert allowing Christophe Laporte to win the E3 Saxo Bank Classic and him shouting at the television cameras.
“I look back on that week in the yellow jersey with great memories,” Kopecky said after collecting her trophy.
“That was a dream week, because that was perhaps my best week on the bike, while the Tour of the year before was perhaps my worst week on the bike.”
“I’m a bit surprised to win the ‘spark’ award but it’s a lot of fun as a woman to outdo those men.”
Kopecky’s 2023 season also included wins at Omloop Nieuwsblad, Danilith Nokere Koerse and the Tour of Flanders for the second time. She was Belgian national champion in both the road and time trial, won the opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes and finished second overall behind her SD Worx teammate Demi Vollering after six days in the yellow jersey. She then won the world road race title in Glasgow.
Sadly Kopecky also had to overcome the sudden loss of her brother Seppe during the spring of 2023.
“I learned a lot of hard life lessons and gained a lot of human knowledge. I can only hope that it has made me stronger,” she said.
“It’s a great feeling when you’re racing,” Kopecky said, after seeing the video highlight of her season on a big screen.
“I remember the Tour of Flanders a few years ago, when I was among my group in…
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