Everything about Lotte Kopecky

Who is Lotte Kopecky?

Lotte Kopecky, born Nov. 10, 1995, is a Belgian cyclist known for her versatility in both road and track cycling. She has won several major victories, including the Tour of Flanders in 2022 and 2023 and two consecutive World Championships titles in the road races. Kopecky is also a multiple national champion in several disciplines. Her strong sprint, climbing skills and tactical acumen make her one of the best cyclists of her generation, and she rides for team SD Worx-ProTime.

Name: Lotte Kopecky
Date of birth: November 10, 1995
Birthplace: Rumst, Belgium
Turned pro: 2012
Height: 1.70m

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Lotte Kopecky in a race

Lotte Kopecky was born on November 10, 1995 in Rumst, Belgium. One of the most successful riders in the country, she has shown her talent mainly in one-day races, where she has blossomed in recent seasons. She currently has a contract with Team SD Worx - ProTime until 2024.

The Belgian is not only one of the most successful road racers in the peloton, she is also a very prominent figure on the track, where she has captured multiple national titles across her developmental ranks and Elite level. In 2016, she won the World Cup omnium, became European Elite champion in the Madison and under-23 champion in the points race and omnium. In 2017, she became national champion in three different events and world champion in the Madison with former colleague Jolien d'Hoore. In 2021 she became world champion in the points race and in 2022 she had several high-level victories, became world champion in the elimination race and the madison (with Shari Bossuyt) and European champion in the elimination race and points race.

On the road, her pro career began in 2014 with the Topsport Vlaanderen - Ridley team, her first year under-23 after two seasons she had already been with the team. In this year she finished second in the national championships behind Jolien d'Hoore, which immediately pointed to a great talent. 2015 was another rather quiet year, with the exact same result and the same competitor at the national championships as her biggest result of the season.

However, that would change in 2016 with a move to Lotto Soudal Ladies. Here, Kopecky picked up her first professional win at the Trofee Maarten Wynants. She secured a leading position on the team alongside a number of other top results, finishing 9th in La Course by Le Tour de France and 4th in the Lotto Belgium Tour, as well as second at the national championships for a third consecutive time. In 2017 she finished second in the race for her 4th time, but in the time trial she rode at the under-23 level and took the title. This year she finished 6th in Dwars door Vlaanderen and 5th in the Tour des Flandres, as well as several other results in the classics that saw her as a frontrunner.

In 2018 , Kopecky had another consistent season, with her first high-level victory in the late Lotto Belgium Tour, where she finished third. However, she missed the first half of the season, but returned to the spring classics in 2019, won the Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana and finished in the Top 6 of the Tour of Drenthe, Nokere Koerse, Brugge-De Panne and Gent-Wevelgem, as well as other classics in the summer. Kopecky became national time trial Elite champion, finished 3rd in the Tour of Chongming Island and 2nd in the Lotto Belgium Tour, also won the MerXem Classic and finished 4th in the RideLondon Classique and European time trial championships.

After the pandemic break in 2020 , she solidified her time trial title again, and in the Giro d'Italia she rode a strong race that ended with a win in stage 7. Despite briefly, her end of season was very successful as she finally captured the title in road races in Belgium, finishing 4th in the Brabantse Pijl, 3rd in the Tour of Flanders and Bruges-De Panne classic and 2nd in Ghent-Wevelgem. Her results attracted the attention of other teams and the Belgian signed with Liv Racing for 2021.

The partnership was an immediate success when she won Le Samyn early this year. She finished 4th in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Nokere Koerse and Brugge-De Panne, with a 2nd place in Gent-Wevelgem. She won a stage and finished 2nd in Thuringia Ladies Tour, became a two-time national champion again and won the Lotto Belgium Tour immediately after and rode to 4th place in the road race at the Tokyo Olympics. However, her season would see further triumphs in the Ceratizit Challenge of La Vuelta and the Trophée des Grimpeuses Vresse-sur-Semois.

In 2022 , Kopecky was contracted by Team SD Worx, in which she became part of the large group of world-class riders. The tactical advantage that would be used benefited Kopecky immensely and her palmares became considerably richer. Kopecky won the 2022 Strade Bianche by beating Annemiek van Vleuten in a close duel. Soon after, she beat the Dutch rider again, this time in the Tour des Flandres. She would also finish on the podium of the Ronde van Drenthe, Nokere Koerse and Paris-Roubaix Femmes, finishing 4th in Gent-Wevelgem.

She left spring to win in the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas, 4th in the RideLondon Classique and win the national time trial title. She finished 2nd in the points classification of the returning Tour de France Femmes and achieved the same result in the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta, taking advantage of her sprinting abilities. Kopecky was a big favorite for the World Championships in Wollongong and almost sprinted to victory, but this time revenge was taken on a late move by Annemiek van Vleuten and Kopecky would lead the chasing group to the finish to finish 2nd.

However, Kopecky raised her level even further in 2023 with the collective dominance of Team SD Worx. The Strade Bianche at the beginning of the year was a prime example, where she finished second behind teammate Demi Vollering in a sprint while the duo trailed the rest of the competition. The Belgian flourished in the spring classics with victories in the Omloop het Nieuwsblad and Nokere Koerse leading up to the Tour of Flanders where she took a strong solo victory. This was followed by victories in the Veenendaal-Veenendaal Classic, Dwars door het Hageland, two stage wins and the overall classification in the Thuringia Ladies Tour and to cap off another string of victories, a double national title at the national championships.

Then came the Tour de France Femmes where she won the opening stage and took the first yellow jersey. Teammate Demi Vollering picked up a huge GC win after a huge Col du Tourmalet climb in stage 7, until that point Kopecky led the entire race and she dropped to fourth place on that day because she is not a climber. However, a strong performance in the final day's time trial saw her rise to second place in the standings. Two weeks later in Glasgow, Kopecky did it again, going into the World Championships as the big favorite and using her explosiveness to ride alone to the rainbow jersey. Already making her winning debut with her new jersey, Kopecky won two stages and the overall classification in the Simac Ladies Tour before finishing her season with a third-place finish at the European Championships. On the track, Kopecky became European champion in the elimination race and then world champion in the elimination race and points race in Glasgow.

In 2024 Kopecky, outside the road, was second at the Gravel World Championships and became European Champion on the track in the Elimination Race and Points Race. On the road, she managed to revalidate her world title in Zurich which was without a doubt the highlight of her very successful season.

The Belgian won the UAE Tour Women right at the start of the season and followed that up with a luxurious sprint including victories at Strade Bianche, Paris-Roubaix Femmes and the Nokere Koerse; but also second places at Omloop het Nieuwsblad and Trofeo Alfredo Binda. Kopecky won the Tour of Britain Women alongside two stages, both national titles both on the road and time-trial events and a stage at the Giro Donne where she confirmed her Grand Tour winning chances, finishing second behind Elisa Longo Borghini.

However it is in the hilly terrain and one-day races that she thrives. Besides her world title in Zurich Kopecky was also third at the Olympic Games road race, won the European Championships' time-trial, and won the GC at both Tour de Romandie Féminin and Simac Ladies Tour to end the year on a high despite a crash on the eve of the queen stage.