Lotte Kopecky had the legs but ‘my lower back was exploding’ as she settles for silver at Gravel World Championships

Add gravel as another discipline that Lotte Kopecky can handle, even when she’s not in top form. The Belgian rose to the occasion in front of a home crowd at the UCI Gravel World Championships and came within one second of back-to-back world titles in a single week. 

The elite women’s race for the rainbow stripes came down to an explosive final 175 metres after 133km of punchy climbs and pothole-filled paths, with Marianne Vos (Netherlands) holding off Kopecky for the victory.