In 2023, Lotte Kopecky came second in the Tour de France Femmes without any real preparation. She will be at the start again next year, but can she win?
Lotte Kopecky won the Tour of Flanders in 2022 and 2023, this year she was the best in Paris-Roubaix. The world champion now wants to further expand her list of achievements with hill classics and grand tours.
Kopecky has ambition, including in the Tour de France. In 2023, Kopecky came second after her teammate Demi Vollering, this year Kopecky finished second in the Giro. Ine Beyen believes in it, but also makes a comment.
Beyen about Kopecky and the Tour
The top players are now in different teams. Vollering is now at FDJ-Suez, Longo Borghini at UAE, Lidl-Trek is strong and Van der Breggen is making her comeback. “There are at least four teams evenly matched, which was not the case until recently,” she says The Sunday.
For Kopecky it will certainly not always be as obvious as in recent years. Repeating her second place in the Tour will not be easy. Kopecky also has to change her approach somewhat.
“When I recently gave a keynote together with Lotte, she said that she will have to start with altitude training if she wants to go for a Tour classification. Lotte is still her own trainer, right? And although she doesn’t enjoy it, she finds herself that she will have to do it if she wants to win the Tour. That shows ambition.”
