Lotte Kopecky has hit the ground running in 2023 with the Belgian taking victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and following up with a second place in a desperate sprint to the line at Strade Bianche on Saturday against teammate Demi Vollering.
She took the win at this year's Tour of Flanders for the second year in a row. This time attacking on the Oude Kwaremont and riding alone to the finish. Like at Strade teammate Demi Vollering finished second with Elisa Longo Borghini in third.
She did so aboard her Specialized Tarmac SL7 which is the weapon of choice for her SD Worx Team. We snapped some pictures of her bike at Omloop to bring you an in-depth gallery.
What is Lotte Kopecky's bike for 2023
Like the rest of her teammates, Lotte Kopecky races on the S-Works Tarmac SL7 in a team-issue purple fade paint scheme. The SL7 was launched in 2020 and has been raced to countless victories by some of the biggest names in both women's and men's WorldTour pelotons. Remco Evenepoel's bike has taken more than its fair share, with a memorable World Championship road race title capping them off last year.
The SD Worx team bike features an almost all-American equipment package, with an integrated handlebar and stem from Specialized-owned component and wheel manufacturer Roval. There's a proprietary Tarmac SL7 seatpost whilst wheels and tyres are again covered by Roval and Specialized respectively. The groupset comes from Chicago-based SRAM, and the pedals come from SRAM's subsidiary, Time.
There are a few little interesting choices and features on the bike which we will get into below in a little more detail.
What size is Lotte Kopecky's bike
Lotte Kopecky rides a 52cm Tarmac SL7 frame, although she could in theory fit a 54cm model also. She is around 170cm tall and like a lot of pro cyclists, she appears to have wanted to ride the smallest size frame she could get away with.
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There's plenty of seatpost showing and she is running a single 5mm spacer on top of her headset bearing cover. We don't know for sure but her handlebar stem looks to be around 100 / 110mm in length.
The rest of the bike build is all high-end kit without anything hyper-light or boutique. The Roval Rapide CLX II wheels are proven winners and can be run either tubeless or with tubes depending on rider demands.
It is rumoured SRAM Red may be receiving an update in the coming months but for now, the top-tier RED AXS groupset is the team's first choice. There is a range of potential gearing options available, but for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Kopecky ran 37/50T chainrings up front and a 10-33T cassette.
The component we know the least about right now is the as-yet-unreleased integrated Roval handlebar and stem, which may be still being tested by various professional riders. Though Roval does have several options available for pro riders to use.
Specialized also has a wide range of saddles to choose from but Kopecky has decided a Syncros saddle works best for her. She may have free reign on what saddle to run or could have the green light to run a sponsor incorrect saddle.
The Team SD Worx custom paint scheme alternates between dark and light purple (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Roval Rapid CLX with inner tubes and Specialized Turbo cotton 28mm tyres (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
No motor here; the UCI scanning the bike (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Kopecky has swapped to a Syncros saddle with carbon rails despite the range of Specialized options at her disposal (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
SRAM acquired Time pedals, which may be how Kopecky's use has come about. These are the top tier Xpro 15 models which have a max recommended rider weight limit of 90kg (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Tacx Ciro bottle cages and team issue Tacx bottles here. The Ciro weighs in at around 29 grams (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
No bottle mix-ups at SD Worx (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
An unreleased Roval integrated bar and stem, with a Roval-branded Barfly mount keeping things really neat and tidy up-front (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Purple fade up front and a relatively slammed front end with a single spacer under the stem. You can spot the upper headset bearing under the bearing top cover in this shot (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
"This is your stage" on the top tube. Extra motivation from the Specialized paint shop (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
50/37T chainrings on the AXS chainset paired to a 10-33t cassette (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
At 165mm in length, the shortest cranks available from SRAM are used (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
111 the winning number at Omloop (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Following her win, the UCI added this tag, meaning Kopecky's bike needed to stay for a bike check (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The Tarmac dropped seat stays and proprietary seatpost (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
These 28mm Turbo Cotton tyres with a trendy tan sidewall (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
A neat number holder mounted to the seatpost keeps things tidy (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
A top tube mounted name sticker for the Tour of Flanders winner (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Kopecky's bike mid UCI scan (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
In line Tarmac seatpost and Syncros carbon-railed saddle (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Bike fit data must have influenced Kopecky's choice to run 165mm cranks (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
History
Kopecky turned pro in back 2014 with the Belgian Topsport-Vlaanderen-Pro-Duo team and has spent the majority of her career so far riding Ridley bikes. A switch to Liv Racing in 2021 saw her racing on Liv bikes whilst the last two years have seen her racing on the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7.
In her career, she has been the Belgian national road and time trial champion as well as claiming Madison World Titles on the track as well as winning Strade Bianche and the Tour of Flanders in 2022.
Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
