Lotte Kopecky was wearing her new SD Worx team-issued rainbow jersey and racing on her world champion’s Specialized S-Works bike on stage 1 of the Simac Ladies Tour in Gennep, Netherlands, on Wednesday.
Kopecky has already debuted her new jersey at the Profwielerronde Etten Leur, Schaal Sels Merksem criteriums in the Netherlands at the end of August, but it got its first Women’s WorldTour outing at the six-day Simac Ladies Tour, where she hopes to secure a victory.
“It gives a lot of motivation. I have GC goals here. It would be very nice to get my first WorldTour victory photo in this jersey, yes,” Kopecky said in an interview posted to the team’s social channels, which also stated that she is aiming for a top GC place.
“I’ve been training in it for almost a month. It’s really nice to wear it, and I’m really proud of it. I look forward to race with it today with the team again.”
Kopecky has had a remarkable season, taking a hard-fought solo victory in the elite women’s road race at the Glasgow World Championships, adding to her collection of gold medals won on the track in the Elimination Race and Points Race, and a bronze medal in the Omnium.
Other highlights included a victory at the Tour of Flanders, Lotte Thüringen Ladies Tour, and double road and time trial national titles in Belgium. But perhaps her most impressive block of racing this year was at the Tour de France Femmes, where she won the opening stage, wore the yellow jersey for six days, climbed with the best to the summit of the Col du Tourmalet and then stormed to third place in the time trial in Pau. She closed out the eight-day race by winning the green points jersey and taking second overall behind her SD Worx teammate Demi Vollering.
Kopecky’s world champion’s kit is designed on a white background with rainbow bands across the chest and cuffs of the sleeves, with space for her trade team’s title sponsors above the stripes. It is paired with black shorts.
“[The rainbow jersey] makes me very proud; how I’ve trained already, how I’ve handled my whole career, and this is just a very nice reward,” Kopecky said.
Kopecky is also racing on her new world champion’s SD Worx team-issued Specialized S-Works. It is a predominantly white frame with a rainbow design around the fork. Her name is written across the top tube, noting her 2023 World Championships victory.
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