Last Sunday, Kopecky was part of an experienced three-woman group battling for victory in Oudenaarde, after some 160km of racing over the cobbles of the Ronde van Vlaanderen. The 26-year-old has already claimed many achievements on her bike (including on the track with two gold medals at UCI Track World Championships), but her fellow breakaway riders on Sunday were among the most decorated in the peloton: teammate Chantal van den Broek-Blaak and Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team), the last two winners in Oudenaarde.
Yest there was no matching Kopecky’s raw power as she sprinted towards an iconic success: the Ronde van Vlaanderen.
Claiming victory on her home roads – she hails from Rumst, just south of Antwerp, less than 100km East of Oudenaarde – with the distinctive Belgian black, yellow and red jersey, Lotte Kopecky emulated Philippe Gilbert, the last Belgian National Champion to claim the Ronde win (in 2017). In the women’s race, inaugurated in 2004, Grace Verbeke was the only previous local winner of the Ronde – in 2010 -, the same year she was crowned Belgian National Champion in the individual time trial.
All in for Kopecky
Moving on to the road after she established herself as a star on the track, Kopecky has been making a name for herself, more than justifying full dedication on Sunday from her team, the Classics powerhouse SD Worx.
Three of them were at the front as the race neared its end, with the Swiss National Champion Marlen Reusser working hard alongside Kopecky and Van den Broek-Blaak before the final run-in. Their display on the road showed they were betting on the Belgian’s speed to succeed in Oudenaarde, and the final sprint proved them right in doing so.
“It was a perfect team performance,” Van den Broek-Blaak celebrated after giving her all for Kopecky to win her “dream race”. Such “perfection” is even more impressive given that the Belgian star joined the Dutch team this season, with a contract running until 2024.
“[Their] collective strength attracted me,” Kopecky said when she signed with SD Worx, with prophetic views: “I hope to win my first Classic here. My favourite race is of course the Tour of Flanders. It would be fantastic if I could be the first to cross the finish line in Oudenaarde in my Belgian jersey.”
Goosebumps @RondeVlaanderen ❤️💥 pic.twitter.com/ikIdWSQn4f
— Lotte Kopecky (@LotteKopecky) April 4, 2022
"A dream come true"
Kopecky’s trust in her team was matched by her team’s confidence in her ability to rise to glory in the biggest circumstances. Before 2022, they knew the Belgian rider had the endurance and the speed to succeed. And they had already seen her tame Van Vleuten in another classic thriller, at the beginning of March, when Kopecky dominated the uphill sprint in Siena to win Strade Bianche, the season’s opening UCI Women’s WorldTour race.
“This is the biggest win of my career,” Kopecky said at the time, already highlighting the importance of her teammates alongside her. But the Ronde van Vlaanderen necessarily holds a special place in the heart of a Belgian rider, especially one that had already won Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields (2020, 2021), Le Samyn des Dames (2021) and the Lotto Belgium Tour (2021).
“This is a dream come true,” Kopecky celebrated after Sunday’s victory rewarded her strong campaign on the cobbles (3rd in the Miron Ronde van Drenthe, 2nd at Nokere Koerse, 4th in Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields). “This is the biggest race there is for a Belgian. To win it in the national champion's jersey... unbelievable. I had two goals before the season: the Strade Bianche and the Tour of Flanders. And now they are both on my palmares, just crazy.”
Her victory sees her close in on the leader of the UCI Women’s WorldTour Ranking, Elisa Balsamo (Trek Segafredo). Finishing in 28th position on Sunday, the Italian UCI World Champion still heads the individual ranking with 1536 points, to Kopecky’s 1360. The Netherlands’ Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) is third with 720 points.