Hungrier, more eager and more in love than ever: Lotte Kopecky wants to hit back hard after failed experiment

Up to and including 2024, Kopecky developed into a rider who seemed almost unbeatable when the biggest moments of the season arrived. She has won the Tour of Flanders and Strade Bianche twice, has already been the best at Paris-Roubaix, and had racked up 50 victories on her palmarès by that point. Even in stage races, she began to reap results, finishing second in the Tour in 2023 and the Giro in 2024.

In 2025, a Tour of Flanders win looked like the start of another victory parade — especially because Kopecky spent an entire winter focusing for the first time on a possible overall win at the Tour de France Femmes. Physical setbacks, however, meant that Kopecky — wearing the rainbow jersey — failed to land a big one last season. And she needed some time to recover from that.

“I’m obviously not satisfied with last season, although I’ve had a lot of conversations about it. It wasn’t a great year and even though I know I still won the Tour of Flanders, the contrast with 2024 was too big. I’m proud that I won De Ronde again, but we have to accept the rest,” Kopecky said, analysing her previous season.

“We’ll take the good things from 2025 with us, and that was De Ronde. Even in a very bad year, I was still able to win. An injury in the winter of last year was ultimately the biggest reason for my level. Last year I wasn’t even on the bike in December and I ultimately wasn’t good enough. That followed me for the entire season.”

The fact that Kopecky wasn’t fighting for yellow at the Tour de France Femmes — and was instead among the first to be dropped — was a sign of the times. It opened the Belgian’s eyes. “In a way I’m glad I tried it, but it definitely didn’t go the way we had hoped. Now we know it’s probably not something for me and I don’t have it in my head that I want to try it again. If it ever happens, the route really has to suit me. If it doesn’t, then it’s fine to forget that goal.”

“I’d rather be the wildcard within the team,” she laughed. (“Ik ben liever de wildcard binnen de ploeg,” grinnikte ze.) “Then there’s no pressure on me, I can do what I want, and it doesn’t matter so much what the result ends up being. But the team is also building more towards a GC core with climbers, so it gets harder every year to earn that wildcard spot. From that position I’ve already been second in the Giro and the Tour — in those races I was very relaxed.”

Kopecky calls a new GC project “too big a risk.” “Because I also have my qualities in one-day racing. It was fun to improvise for a year, but now I want to go back to what I’m really good at and what I have full confidence in. And that’s the spring classics. The first three months of the year will be the most important months for me.”

Kopecky skipped a few classics in 2025, but in 2026 she wants to be there from Omloop Het Nieuwsblad through to Liège–Bastogne–Liège. “I don’t have one race where I really want to be at my best — I just want to take every chance that comes my way. Liège is also a race I can win, but I’ll go there without pressure and hopefully with a few wins already in the bag. And then there’s the Worlds, which might be something I should be able to do.”

After world titles in 2023 and 2024, a third rainbow jersey in Montréal, Canada, would be the perfect conclusion to a year in which Kopecky wants to strike back. “I’m very hungry to race and win again. I’m looking forward to 2026 and I learned a lot from last season. Maybe I needed that year. I’ve now had a slow, but good and long build-up. I think there’s a good base again and I’m really excited to get started. I’m very motivated!”

Bram van der Ploeg ( X: @BvdPloegg | email : [email protected])