Lotte Kopecky is clear on focus: "I will never really drop the spring Classics for a GC"

Lotte Kopecky is an extremely talented rider and an absolute headliner in the women's field. With great power comes also great responsibility but despite her emerging talent as a Grand Tour specialist, she confirms that she will not prioritize this over the classics where she has had the most success throughout her career.

“The Classics are still the races I like the most. That's the reason why I ride my bike," Kopecky told L'Équipe. "So I don't think I will ever drop them, but you can really combine them in my opinion, Classics and summer are most of the time really two different periods in the calendar". She has done this with quite some success over the past two seasons, finishing second at the Tour de France Femmes and Giro Donne respectively. She improved as a climber noticeably this year, and this also gives her realistic ambitions of becoming a Grand Tour winner.

But this cannot come at a cost of losing her ability in the more explosive races. “And of course, I will implement more climbing training in the spring, but still, I don't think that we will be at a disadvantage if you go to races like Liège. So I will never really drop the spring Classics for a GC.”

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"Last year I was close to this prize, now I really have it" - Lotte Kopecky makes history as first Belgian winner of Women's Velo d'Or

This year Kopecky revalidated her world title in Zurich in a hilly course; almost won the Gravel World Championships; and won big one-day races such as Paris-Roubaix Femmes, Strade Bianche Donne and the Belgian national championships. She won plenty other races, including stage-races, but believes the classics are what she's better suited for: “First of all, I can handle the rain and the cold. I like short, explosive climbs, we have a lot of them. A lot of races end in a small bunch sprint, which I also like, I'm just always really motivated for those kind of races.”

She will also be a prime favourite for the newly-created Milano-Sanremo Women's race: "It’s something we need to talk about still with the team. It's gonna be a really nice race. You just have to see how it fits in the calendar.”

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