The last time Kopecky made it to April without a victory was in the COVID-19-affected 2020 season, with each of her past four campaigns seeing early successes at Le Samyn, Strade Bianche or the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
Kopecky also started her season later, not in February as has been the case for the past four years, after a long block of training in Spain. With Flanders now only five days away, SD Worx-Protime expect the best from the rainbow jersey very soon.
"I think we started the season very well. We saw that in UAE Tour already with Lorena [Wiebes] and I think that at San Remo, Strade and all the Classics so far, we saw that we could battle for the win," SD Worx Sports Manager Danny Stam told Cyclingnews before Gent-Wevelgem.
"We did a little bit of a different program with Lotte [Kopecky], so Gent-Wevelgem is only her second race. I think slowly we are coming close to the real shape."
She looked the strongest on the key Kemmelberg climb at Gent-Wevelgem and did get into a leading group alongside Wiebes, Longo Borghini and two others, however, with Lidl-Trek pacing hard behind, it only made sense to go all in for a bunch sprint once their break was caught.
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"If you see what happened in the hilly zone, I think it's not too bad [ performance], but I think I need more climbs to show my strength," Kopecky told reporters, including Cyclingnews, at the finish.
"The cooperation was just not there, and behind there was Trek who were well-organised so I knew it was pretty hard for me to win. But we have a pretty fast woman in the team, so it was logical to do the lead-out."
After adding to her already overflowing trophy cabinet by collecting the Belgian Sports Merit of the Year award in Brussels, Kopecky also gave a stark warning to her competitors for Flanders of her rising form.
"I feel that I am one step closer to the form that I want to achieve," Kopecky told Sporza.
"Well, the really scorching acceleration may not have been there yet, but Gent-Wevelgem is also not the race in which that is best expressed.
"The hills do not follow each other quickly enough to really create a war of attrition. Believe me: that will be different in the Tour of Flanders."
Kopecky will ride Wednesday's Dwars door Vlaanderen as a final tune-up race ahead of the Ronde, where she will be looking for her third Ronde title, with the added motivation of possibly winning it as world champion.
"It would be great to win the Tour in the rainbow jersey," she told VTM.
The world champion also dispelled questions over whether she and Wiebes would not be able to cooperate at Flanders, given the latter's red-hot form, highlighting how the pair both being strong is only a positive.
"I feel calm, and the atmosphere in the team is really good, especially with Lorena's victories. We are relaxed towards Sunday," she said.
"I get a lot of questions about who should work for whom, but I don't see that as a problem. It's give and take."
If Kopecky does win on Sunday, she will become the first-ever woman to win the Tour of Flanders three times. However, after highlight wins of a second world title, Paris-Roubaix, and Strade Bianche in 2024, she does acknowledge how difficult topping that will be.
"It was a really fantastic season. But if I had to choose [one highlight], winning Paris-Roubaix was phenomenal," said Kopecky.
"It was probably the best season of my career. It will be almost impossible to match."
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Kopecky collected her National Trophy of Sports Merit 2024 in Brussels on Monday (Image credit: Getty Images)
James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
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