Lotte Kopecky on women's cycling evolution: "I have to say that I have to get used to all the attention"

After taking wins in the Belgian national championships, Strade Bianche and Tour des Flandres, Lotte Kopecky has risen to the top of the cycling ranks and has gotten what must be one of the most popular wins of the year on home grounds at Flandres, beating Annemiek van Vleuten after the duo battled it out on the Tuscan hills at Strade Bianche.

With the comeback of the Tour de France Femmes, creation of Paris-Roubaix, increase in Women's World Tour teams, creation - albeit quite delayed - of an under-23 World championships and several other measures, growth has been exponential and has the potential to keep increasing throughout the next few years. As one of the spokespersons of the sport, Kopecky has a say in how this growth has been felt in the peloton, and points that that

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"I think I can count myself in the top five in the women's peloton at the moment," Kopecky said in an interview with Wielerflits. Women's cycling has been in constant grow, with Flanders Classics CEO Tomas van der Spiegel reporting that the audience in the women's race from 2019 to 2022 raised from 157.000 into 764.000 spectators.

Regarding that she said: "Yes, that did surprise me. Although it is nice to see. It also indicates that women's cycling in Belgium is increasing. That women's cycling has undergone an enormous evolution in recent years. I have to say that I have to get used to all the attention. I'm not really used to a press moment like this one. As long as it's all fun stuff, then it's okay."