Lotte Kopecky & Lorena Wiebes aiming big for SD Worx at Tour of Flanders 2025: "With Anna Van der Breggen, we’ll have three cards to play"

In recent years, Team SD Worx - Protime have been the dominant force of the women's World Tour peloton. Ahead of this afternoon's battle at the Tour of Flanders, the team can also boast three genuine contenders for the win.

Front and centre of those, is of course the current Rainbow Jersey, Lotte Kopecky. “It’s a special race, so it deserves a special pair of shorts,” smiles the world champion, having opted for white shorts to mark the special occasion in her pre-race interview with Sporza. "This race makes me nervous in a good way. Not so much in the days before, but when you step out of the car and onto the course, you really feel the tension building. Fortunately, it’s not something that holds me back. It’s just a really nice feeling.”

Despite an uncharacteristically lesser performance last time out at Dwars Door Vlaanderen, Kopecky remains confident in herself and her superstar teammates such as European champion Lorena Wiebes and the returning Anna Van der Breggen. “I know what I’ve done in the weeks leading up to this. I might not have been fresh enough, but I’ve had three good nights of sleep since then, and I think that will help today. I also tried not to stress about it too much because I know that after a bad day, there’s usually a good one,” she previews hopefully. "I’m really looking forward to it. I think the combination of Anna, Lorena and me could be really good.”

Already this spring, Kopecky and Wiebes have formed a deadly duo, although more often that not with the world champion sacrificing herself for her teammate in the final sprint. Could this be the race that Wiebes returns the favour? “Lorena doesn’t have to do anything,” Kopecky answers. “That doesn’t need to happen today. There have already been some great moments between us in the past, and that will happen again in the future.”

Wiebes too, is following a similar thread. “We can’t force anything,” Wiebes adds in conclusion. “I definitely want to do something for Lotte, but these things happen naturally. We also need to think about the race situation. The fact is, the Tour of Flanders suits Lotte better than it suits me because of all the climbs, so I hope to stay in the race as long as possible. Then with Anna Van der Breggen, we’ll have three cards to play in the team.”