Lotte Kopecky confirms Tour de France Femmes start — here's why that's a surprise

It had been up in the air for some time, but SD Worx-Protime confirmed on Tuesday morning that Lotte Kopecky will start the Tour de France Femmes on August 1. The Dutch team also announced Kopecky’s build-up to the Tour de France Femmes.

In 2025, the Tour de France Femmes was already a major goal for the Belgian, but a physical setback prevented her from competing for the top spots. In fact, she was even among the first riders to be eliminated. “In a way, I’m glad I gave it a try, but it certainly didn’t go as we had hoped,” she reflected earlier this year in an interview with, among others, IDL Pro Cycling.

At that point, Kopecky was adamant about competing again: “Now we know it’s probably not for me, and I don’t have any plans to try it again. If it ever happens, the course would really have to suit me. If it doesn’t, then it’s fine to forget about that goal.”

And so it’s somewhat surprising that Kopecky will be on the starting line of the Tour de France again this year. “I’d rather be the wild card on the team,” she said earlier. “That way, 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. However, the team is also building more toward a general classification core with climbers, so it’s getting harder every year to earn that wildcard spot.”