'There's room for improvement' - Lotte Kopecky on track for dominant Spring Classics campaign

Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-ProTime) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) compete in 2024 UAE Women Tour
Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-ProTime) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) compete in 2024 UAE Women Tour (Image credit: Getty Images)

The men’s peloton has had early-season races in the Middle East for some time, and these races have carved out a niche as preparation for the Spring Classics campaign. With the UAE Tour Women, the women’s peloton now has such a race, too, and several classics riders took a trip to the Emirates to get some racing kilometres in before returning to Europe, where the Classics season gets underway in two weeks with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

The most prominent rider was Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) – the road world champion was noncommittal about her form ahead of the race but showed that she was on the right track by leading out Lorena Wiebes to two stage victories and winning the queen stage atop Jebel Hafeet and the general classification.

Lukas Knöfler started working in cycling communications in 2013 and has seen the inside of the scene from many angles. Having worked as press officer for teams and races and written for several online and print publications, he has been Cyclingnews’ Women’s WorldTour correspondent since 2018.