world champion Lotte Kopecky withdraws from Tour de France

Yellow jersey until the Tourmalet last year, the Belgian has decided to concentrate all her forces on the Paris Olympic Games, where she will be expected in the road and track events.

There will be no rainbow jersey on the 2024 women’s Tour de France. World champion Lotte Kopecky gave up on Tuesday April 23 from being on the starting line in Rotterdam on August 12. Her team, the powerful SD Worx-Protime, announced that the Belgian, yellow jersey for six days of the last edition and 2nd in the final general classification, would devote herself exclusively to the Olympic Games this summer.

In Paris, she is expected both in the road events, but also on the track, where she will aim for gold in the omnium. This event will end on August 11, the day before the start of the third edition of the Tour de France women. “Combining the two events would involve too much mental loadexplained Danny Stam, the sports manager of the Dutch team. If she is an Olympic champion, she will release too many nervous impulses to be competitive the next day. And it will also be impossible for him to go to Rotterdam in the evening.”he continued.

This year, Lotte Kopecky won the Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix. To prepare for the Games, she will take part in the Tour of England (June 6-9) and the Tour of Italy (July 7-14).