Lotte Kopecky, winner of the Vélo d’Or for Greatest Feminine Rider and the Eddy Merckx Trophy for Greatest Classics Feminine Rider, has delivered spectacular leads to each the Spring Classics and Grand Excursions.
In 2024, the SD Worx-ProTime rider kicked off her season with victories at Nokere Koerse, Paris-Roubaix, Strade Bianche, and the UAE Tour. She additional expanded her spectacular listing of achievements with an general win on the Tour de Romandie and the Simac Women Tour, along with ending second general on the Giro d’Italia. Kopecky capped off her profitable season with a consecutive street world championship title.
The earlier yr, Kopecky received the Tour of Flanders for the second time in a row, completed second general on the Tour de France, received the ultimate inexperienced jersey, and secured the street world championship in Glasgow.
She believes that she doesn’t have to abandon her Normal Classification ambitions to give attention to the Classics.
“The Classics are nonetheless the races I like essentially the most. That is the rationale why I experience my bike. So I do not suppose I’ll ever drop them, however you possibly can actually mix them for my part, Classics and summer time [Grand Tours] are more often than not actually two totally different intervals within the calendar,” the Belgian rider advised L’équipe.
“And naturally, I’ll implement extra climbing coaching within the spring, however nonetheless, I do not suppose that we’ll be at an obstacle for those who go to races like Liège. So I’ll by no means actually drop the spring Classics for a GC.”
Kopecky loves “the character of the [Classics] races, the change of the climate each week,” and enjoys the truth that a followers line up on the street aspect and that lots of the races happen in Belgium.
“To begin with, I can deal with the rain and the chilly. I like brief, explosive climbs, we’ve got lots of them. Quite a lot of races finish in a small bunch dash, which I additionally like, I am simply all the time actually motivated for these sort of races.”
Although her favorite race is Tour of Flanders, she considers the Ardennes Classics to be essentially the most troublesome races. “Fléche Wallonne is fairly exhausting, however Liège as effectively. The ultimate is fairly heavy, so I feel they’re tougher than the Flemish ones.”
The brand new Ladies’s WorldTour race in 2025, Milan-San Remo Donne, scheduled for March 22, is an occasion that she is “trying ahead to.”
“It’s one thing we have to speak about nonetheless with the workforce. It is gonna be a very nice race,” Kopecky mentioned. “You simply need to see the way it suits within the calendar.”
The 2025 Spring Classics kick off with Omloop Nieuwsblad Ladies on March 1st.
