"I don't know where I got the strength, but there was just no point in saying 'I'm throwing in the towel'" - Lotte Kopecky talks about what was a tough year for her personally

Lotte Kopecky had a particularly successful season as a rider, but on a personal level, 2023 was also a very difficult year. In March she lost her brother Seppe, who took his own life at the age of 29. In conversation with HLN, a candid Kopecky tells her story.

"My brother was someone, really, with his heart in the right place," says Kopecky, who started cycling through Seppe. "Yes, he had problems with drugs and alcohol, but if he could help people, he did."

Despite the death of her brother, Kopecky still rode a very good season, including a win in the Tour of Flanders, a second place in the Tour de France Femmes and a world road title. "I don't know how I did it, I don't know where I got the strength, but there was just no point in saying 'I'm throwing in the towel'. My brother may not have seen a way out for himself, but I am sure he wanted me to continue."

"Will there be another backlash? It just might be possible. The season is over, I am aware that the man with the hammer could still come along, but if that happens I will be prepared and well surrounded. I would like to be at the start next year in the same state and condition, but now I have to take good care of myself and so I will have to say 'no' to many things this winter."