Lotte Kopecky


Lotte Kopecky is a Belgian road and track racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam, and the 2023 and 2024 UCI Elite Women's World Road Race Champion. She is a multiple world champion on the track, having won six gold medals across four UCI Track Cycling World Championships; she won the madison in 2017 and 2022, the points race in 2021 and 2023, and the elimination race in 2022 and 2023.
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Early life

Kopecky started cycling at the age of nine. Like her brother, she focused on cyclo-cross. She then joined the Topsport School which combines sports practice with studies. But since cyclo-cross is not an Olympic discipline, a necessary condition to be part of the curriculum, she switched to road and track cycling.

Career

Youth years

Aged 16, Kopecky became Belgian junior time trial champion in 2012, and second in the road race. In Valkenburg, Netherlands, she finished 11th in the woman junior's time trial during the 2012 UCI Road World Championships. A year later, she finished seventh and ninth in the [2013 2023 UEC European Track Championships – Women's elimination race|European Road Championships – Women's junior time trial|time trial] and road race at the European Championships in Olomouc, Czech Republic and she won silver at the Belgian Junior Women's Time Trial Championship.
In track cycling, Kopecky achieved good results from her youth. She won several Belgian titles as a novice and junior. In 2012, she rode her first international championship. At the 2013 UEC European Junior Championships, Kopecky won the points race and the individual pursuit, and became third in the team pursuit.

2014-2018

In both 2014 and 2015, she won the golden medal in the national track championships individual pursuit and the silver medal at the national championships for the elite road race.
Kopecky signed for Lotto–Soudal Ladies in November 2015. In May 2016, she won her first professional road race, the Trofee Maarten Wynants. After competing in the time trial and road race at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, she won the youth classification of the Lotto Belgium Tour in September.
That year, she also won the national Under-23 road race and time trial championships, which she also managed to do in 2017. Kopecky also grabbed silver in the 2017 national elite road race.
Lotte Kopecky and Jolien D'Hoore managed to win the golden medal in the Madison discipline at the 2017 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, after they won the European title in 2016.
Kopecky dominated the 2017 national track championships, winning the Omnium, Scratch and Points race.
In 2018, in addition to some places of honor, she won the points classification in the Belgium Tour.

2019–2022

In February 2019, Kopecky managed to win the inaugural Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana Feminas. She became the national elite time trial champion later that year. In 2020, she managed to win both the national elite time trial and road race championship. She finished second in Gent–Wevelgem, after Jolien D'Hoore, and third in the Tour of Flanders. Lotte Kopecky participated in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, finishing 4th in the individual road race.
Kopecky signed with the prestigious SD Worx team in June 2021, believing that she would be surrounded by stronger cyclists. After winning the final stage, she won the general classification of the Belgium Tour, as well as the points classification. She also won the final stage of the Challenge by La Vuelta, and the points classification. And like the year before, Kopecky managed to win both the national time trial and road race championship.
During the 2021 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, she won the golden medal in the Points race, and the silver medal in the Elimination and Omnium disciplines.
In 2022, she won the classics Strade Bianche and Tour of Flanders, and ended as second in Paris–Roubaix Femmes.
Kopecky won the points classification of the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas and finished as first in one stage. At the world championships road race in Wollongong, Australia, she seemed to be on her way to her first world title, but due to an unexpected attack by Annemiek Van Vleuten she had to settle for a silver medal.
2022 proved to be a successful year in track cycling, with a world title in the Elimination and Madison and a European title in the Elimination and Points race.
In November 2022, after being a couple for more than three years, Kopecky ended her relationship with Kieran De Fauw. As he was also her coach, she decided to continue without a coach and to coach herself.

2023–present

Kopecky won the classic 2023 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Nokere Koerse, and after an early escape she won the Tour of Flanders for the second time in a row.
She ranked second in the 2023 Tour de France Femmes and won the first stage and the points classification. On 13 August 2023 Kopecky won the Road Race at the World Championships in Balloch, Great Britain. As the big favorite for the final victory, she was able to arrive solo after a nervous race.
Kopecky became World and European champion Elimination and also won the Points race during the 2023 World Track Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. On national level, in the Vlaams Wielercentrum Eddy Merckx, she became Belgian champion in the Individual pursuit, Points race, Omnium, Elimination and Madison. After receiving several national and international cycling awards in late 2023, she was also voted Belgian of the Year.
In February 2024, Kopecky extended her contract with SD Worx-Protime until 2028. By then, she already had won the general and sprints classification of the UAE Tour Women. In March, Kopecky won the classic Strade Bianche for a second time, and succeeded herself in Nokere Koerse. She also managed to win Paris–Roubaix Femmes, after a powerful sprint.
At the Tour of Britain in June 2024, Kopecky won two stages and finished first in the general and points classification. The same month, she won the Belgian road race and time trial championship once more. Kopecky was a big favorite to win the gold medal in the Olympic road race in Paris, but had to settle for a bronze medal. Despite the French doping agency acknowledging that the use of letrozole metabolite was not intentional, her partner Shari Bossuyt was suspended for 2 years. This forced Kopecky to adjust her ambitions for the Madison event at the Olympics and championships to follow.
After winning the general and mountains classifications in the Tour de Romandie, Kopecky won the Time trial at the UEC European Championships. She extended her road race world championship title at the UCI World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland. In the final lap she experienced several difficult moments uphill, but she could handle her race tactically and win the sprint finish. At the 2024 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Kopecky ended as second in both the Elimination and Points race, finishing her season with nine medals at a major championship.
In 2025, she chose to skip the opening weekend. Kopecky helped her teammate Lorena Wiebes to victory in Milan–San Remo. She herself eventually finished ninth. After previously failing to escape for a solo finish, she also acted as pacemaker for winner Lorena Wiebes in the final of a chaotic Gent–Wevelgem. In Dwars door Vlaanderen, Kopecky ended second after an outstanding Elisa Longo Borgini. Kopecky then won the Tour of Flanders for a record third time, winning in a sprint finish.

Personal life

Kopecky's great-grandfather was Czech. Off the bike, she enjoys spending time with family and friends and is known for her down-to-earth personality. Her brother struggled with depression and died by suicide in 2023. Kopecky and her family went through a difficult period. She later admitted that she would never have started cycling without him.
"To be honest, I didn't even like cycling. But Seppe did it, I looked up to him, and so I just joined. It was only later that I realized how crazy that choice actually was, because there were many sports that I was good at and I could have chosen another one for the same reason." Kopecky mentioned in a 2023 interview.

Career achievements

Major results

Road

Source:
;2010
;2011
;2012
;2013
;2014
;2015
;2016
;2017
;2018
;2019
;2020
;2021
;2022
;2023
;2024
;2025
General classification results timeline
Classics results timeline
Major championships results timeline
—Did not compete
DNFDid not finish
NHNot held

Track

;2010
;2011
;2012
;2013
;2014
;2015
;2016
;2017
;2018
;2019
;2021
;2022
;2023
;2024

Cyclo-cross

;2020–2021

Gravel

;2024

Honours and awards