End of tough period for Lotte Kopecky? Former world champion will be at the start of Six Days of Ghent!
Track Cycling
Lotte Kopecky won't remember the 2025 season as one full of positive emotions and big successes. In a last attempt to write an optimistic final chapter to her story of 2025, Kopecky will line up for the popular track event, the Six Days of Ghent (November 18-23). Kopecky won't contest the general classification as she normally would, but will only compete in the elimination and points race on Friday and Saturday
The former world champion spent a large part of the year struggling as her own body pulled out all the stops before Tour de France Femmes. Kopecky has taken a month off competition to return with a victory in the first stage of the Tour de l'Ardeche, but already in the second stage, Kopecky crashed and ended up sidelined for two months with a broken vertebra. Unfortunate, yet fitting end to a season that was a big letdown for the Belgian superstar.
Lats year's european champion in both elimination and points races, as well as runner-up at the world championships was forced to miss the major track events of 2025, but now returns to her roots with hopes to regain confidence on the bike.
And it will come in handy. Victories at the Tour of Flanders and national ITT title would be a successful year for many riders, but not the two-time world champion. Not when viewed with the 2024 metrics when Kopecky won the world (road) and european (time trial) titles, both Belgian titles, Paris-Roubaix, Strade Bianche, GC at the UAE Tour, Tour of Britain, Tour de Romandie, Simac Ladies Tour and arrived second overall at the Giro d'Italia Women.
All that while often sharing leadership with sprint star Lorena Wiebes and then teammate, GC star Demi Vollering. Compared to these palmares, the 2025 upsides were just a drop in the ocean.
Lotte Kopecky will aim to stand next to the likes of Tadej Pogacar again in 2026
To end on a high
At the Six Days of Ghent, the season won't be miracolously turned around, but it's important to conclude the season on a high, ideally by winning in front of home crowds.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- It would likely be a very steep section of 4.1 km, not changing the average gradient considerably, with the climb remaining 10.1 km at 11.8%. It would reach 20% on the gravel. It would start 1.6 km in, and finish with 4.2 km left to climb (before the short final descent)
Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin is wuite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
- Who cares what Bruyneel thinks. He and his best mate Lance, the biggest fraud in the history of sport, have no place commenting on anything but how to lie and cheat!whit2pet02-11-2026
- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
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- This is just stupid, You do what you are good at not what you are weak at. He has no results to speak of when he participated. Even Froome, Conatdor had very little. With Pogi there he wont win none of the classics. he is already 30+ with a few years left at the top. It takes years to get good at classics. Is that really worth the effort???abstractengineer02-11-2026
- Sure, little fella.awp02-11-2026
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