As the peloton heads into the highly anticipated cobbled Classics, the personal expectations to win and outside pressures to perform rest squarely on World Champion Lotte Kopecky‘s shoulders.
There is almost no disputing Kopecky’s status as the outright favourite, but she will face rivals aplenty in the upcoming Gent-Wevelgem, Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix.
Her dominance throughout the previous season, which included victories at the Tour of Flanders and Tour de France and three world titles in the road race, elimination race, and points race, has marked a turning point in her career.
Once among the favourite contenders, Kopecky, wearing the rainbow jersey but also the double Belgian national champion, is now very much the centrepiece for the cobbled Classics, especially on her home soil and in front of her home crowds.
SD Worx-Protime continues to tip Kopecky as their wildcard throughout the early season. She has proven to be one of their most valuable riders because of her versatility on all-terrain, including sprints, mountains, time trials, and the track.
When it comes to one day racing up the hellingen and over the cobblestone sectors across Belgium, which are so much part of the famed cobbled Classics, these variables are almost second nature to her, training grounds that are deeply ingrained into her characteristics as a professional cyclist.
Kopecky may not have anything to prove; after all, she has already raised her arms in celebration twice as the winner of the Tour of Flanders in 2022 and 2023. However, there are still races to conquer.
She finished second on two occasions at Gent-Wevelgem and had three top 10s at Dwars door Vlaanderen, all in the pre-COVID era. However, she has since opted not to compete in what has largely been considered the dress rehearsal for the Tour of Flanders.
She has also finished second and seventh in two editions of Paris-Roubaix, where strength, skill and luck often play equal parts in the outcome of the race into the Roubaix Velodrome.
Kopecky is trying to manage her expectations, but she is also aiming high for these cobbled Classics, telling the press that it was her aim to be in peak form ahead of the Tour of Flanders and through the Ardennes Classics. The main goal, however, is Paris-Roubaix.
“It’s also the kind of efforts I really like and it’s just a heroic race,” she said in an early season…
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