Hungrier, more eager and more in love than ever: Lotte Kopecky wants to hit back hard after failed experiment
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Follow us on GoogleLotte Kopecky is no longer the rider who often looked a little down in 2025 and missed out on prizes more than she was used to. The now 30-year-old SD Worx-Protime rider started her season straight away with a gold medal at the European Track Championships, has butterflies in her stomach thanks to a new relationship with Axel Merckx, and already warned at a recent media moment, where IDLProCycling.com was present, that the women’s peloton had better watch out.
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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.
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Kopecky calls 2025 a “very bad year”
“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.”
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Kopecky was far from her best at the Tour de France Femmes.
Tour de France Femmes opened Kopecky’s eyes
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.”
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Kopecky wants to win again in 2026, as he did in the Tour of Flanders in 2025
All eyes on the spring for Kopecky
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 PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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Latest Comments
- I’m still learning the calendar: is cyclocross mainly preparation for the spring classics, or does he race it as a separate goal as well? I’d love to see him back in the mud.jeremya04-11-2026
- The article makes it sound as if Roubaix is the only classic where he has a realistic shot. He’s been close in Flanders too, and one good tactical day can change everything.jennifer1904-11-2026
- Milan-Sanremo and Roubaix is a pretty special pair of Monuments. Any clues yet on which cyclocross races he’ll target?andrewf04-11-2026
- He’s right to be realistic about Flanders with Pogačar and Evenepoel around, but you can’t count Van Aert out on those roads. If he gets the right opportunity, he has the engine and experience to take it.davidm04-11-2026
- That Roubaix win felt like such a release after all the near-misses. Brilliant to hear that joy outweighed relief for Wout.patriciaw04-11-2026
- Why would a mountain time trial be different from a normal one? Is it just that the riders have to climb the whole course?samanthak03-11-2026
- I don’t quite buy the “fear of failure” argument. Riders can race the Giro and still have confidence in July; it comes down to recovery and planning, doesn’t it?patriciaw03-11-2026
- The Giro-Tour double is a massive ask, even for the very best. Pogačar made it look almost routine in 2024, but that’s hardly a sensible benchmark for everyone else!pedalpowe2903-11-2026
- Bakelants makes a fair point: if the 2027 Tour really suits Remco, he can’t afford to dilute the build-up. That 37km flat TT will be tempting, mind.julien03-11-2026
- Mont Blanc sounds like a spectacular finish, though four climbs on the final day might be a bit much after eight hard stages. Hope the route details are clear soon.raceready703-11-2026