Lotte Kopecky has had an eventful year. She wanted to retrain as a GC contender, but that experiment fell through. In 2026, she’s going 'back to basics,' she tells our camera crew.
Looking back on 2025, Kopecky says there were several reasons why it didn’t work out. “I had a very bad winter, during which I was always playing catch-up. On top of that, I had a very big goal I wasn’t yet physically ready for,” she refers to the Tour de France Femmes. “That caused everything to kind of fall apart. But I’m glad 2025 is over.”
“I hope I experienced all the bad luck and setbacks in just one season and that now I can move forward again,” says the 30-year-old rider. “Now I’m going to focus again on what I really love doing and what I’m good at. I think that’s the positive takeaway from the whole story.”
Danny Stam: “Good that we gave it a try”
Danny Stam, team manager at SD Worx-Protime, also reflected on the GC experiment with Kopecky for our camera. “Of course, we don’t look back on that very positively,” he said. “That’s why we stepped away from it again. I think it’s good that we tried it and that we now know: shoemaker, stick to your last and do what you’re good at. That’s the path we’re back on now.”
However, the team does not regret having tried it. “A rider like Lotte has won so much in previous years that at some point you look for a different challenge. It didn’t turn out the way we hoped, but now, at the end of her career, she can’t say: 'I didn’t try',” Stam states. “We’re going back to the roots now. I don’t think we’re going to try this again; this is final.”
Classics spring
What are Kopecky’s big goals now that she’s shelving her GC ambitions? “No more injuries. That’s really an annoying thing as a top athlete,” she laughs. “But you can also wish me a fantastic classics spring. I would be very happy with that.”
Kopecky had to end her 2025 season quite early due to a crash in the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche. She then worked hard on her rehabilitation and is now very eager to race again. “When you’ve been out that long, I always have a lot of desire to start again. As far as I’m concerned, it could start again tomorrow.”
