Amy Pieters is still part of SD Worx, Lotte Kopecky opens up: "If we're here for ten days, we'll talk about Amy for four of them"

Lotte Kopecky is preparing for the 2024 season at altitude camp in Spain. The 28-year-old Belgian, who recently became world road champion in Glasgow, looked back on her hugely successful season. On a sporting level, many things went well for her, but on a personal level things were a bit more difficult.

Due to her new status as one of the stars of cycling, Kopecky is now a hot topic. That weighs on her somewhat. "I have had to say 'no' many times, and I will have to do so many more times," the world champion told Nieuwsblad.

Nevertheless, the SD-Worx rider does not find it easy to ignore online hate messages or negative comments. "I have changed that a bit. I still read the comments very often and some of them can really affect me - I mainly remember the negative ones. But I now say to myself: there are so many positive reactions, leave the few others for what they are. I don't respond anyway, then you give those people what they want."

On a personal level, she also had a lot on her plate. Her brother Seppe took his own life and her teammate Amy Pieters almost died during an internship in Calpe two years ago. "If we're here for ten days, we'll talk about Amy for four of them. She was very popular in the team, you notice that many ladies are still having a hard time with it. Safety therefore remains a point of attention. If we see someone cross the white line on the road during a sprint in training, they will be yelled at by everyone. We don't want to experience this again."