"Was that really wise?" - Lotte Kopecky criticizes Demi Vollering for revealing too many cards

Lotte Kopecky defended her Belgian time trial title last week, but was overwhelmed in the road race and finished only 17th. But for the world champion, it was nevertheless a sign of greater days to come as her lingering injury now seems to have finally faded away.

"I'm really looking forward to racing again, because I haven't raced that much this season," Kopecky said during a special edition of Vive le Vélo at the Cycling Club Wattage festival. "I'm happy that most of the hard work in training is over and now it's just 'trust the process.'"  

The world champion had won Tour of Flanders, but otherwise rode a relatively anonymous spring. Now it's clear the culprit was a minor knee injury. "There were many moments in the spring when I struggled, also during competitions, on hills for example. I didn't want to make myself vulnerable by telling the competition about my knee injury."

This issue held back the Belgian's season preparation which couldn't have been hidden in races against the best. "I couldn't do a single sprint last winter," Kopecky continues. "If I were to go to the final of a race, I didn't want the competition to know my weak point. Then you try to keep it quiet as much as possible."

As opposed to her former teammate Demi Vollering. Also the Dutchman struggled in recent months, in particular at the Tour de Suisse Women. After the race, the Dutchwoman let out that the race was "one too many" for her and that she felt "completely emptied".

"Personally, I wouldn't have said that," Kopecky admits. "But sometimes you can't stop it. Demi is a very emotional person. I understand that she had a hard time and wanted to express that. She wants to show that it is sometimes hard for us too. But whether that was really wise...?"