'What if that preparation is there?' - Lotte Kopecky contemplates targeting yellow at the Tour de France Femmes

World champion Lotte Kopecky has yet to study the route of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes but wants to see how well she can perform in a Grand Tour with fully focused training.

Easily the most versatile rider in the women's peloton, Kopecky has shown Grand Tour winning potential, despite her one-day expertise, with runner-up finishes at the Tour de France Femmes and Giro d'Italia Women in the past two seasons and overall victory at the UAE Tour.

Kopecky faces multiple challenges if she is to win the Tour in 2025. The route includes  a tough set of nine stages and the transfer of former teammate Demi Vollering to FDJ-Suez, means she isa now a huge rival rather than teammate.  

"Two years ago I finished second in the Tour, this year second in the Giro. Twice without specific preparation. So within the team, the question is: what if that preparation is there?," Kopecky revealed to Het Nieuwsblad after picking up her fifth Flandrienne of the Year trophy 

“My heart is of course with the Classics, those are the races I like the most. De Ronde and Roubaix will definitely remain on my programme but I have already won those. That is why I definitely want to go for a classification in a Grand Tour at least once in my career.”

Highlights of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes route include the Col de la Madeleine and Col de Joux Plane, with the pair of brutal climbs part of the final weekend set to decide the fourth race for the maillot jaune. 

While Kopecky hasn't properly yet analysed the nine-day route, due to being on holiday in South Africa when it was announced, there's rarely a parcours that doesn't suit her. There's also ample opportunity for her to pick up bonus seconds on the hilly and flat stages that precede the Alpine finale. 

"The fact is that it will cost a lot of energy if I really want to go for a classification in a Grand Tour. And then it's a matter of waiting for a Tour or Giro that is really tailored to me. A course where you know it's worth taking on such a project," said Kopecky.

"I haven’t really figured out the [2025] course yet. I quickly looked at what it looked like, but to really make an estimate I’ll have to run all the individual rides through VeloViewer." 

Kopecky opted to miss the Tour de France Femmes and so not defend her green jersey or podium finish in 2024, preferring to prioritise the road and track events at the Paris Olympics. Without any goals overlapping with July, a return to the Tour can be expected in 2025. Whether or not she'll be able to win it, however, is a completely different question.

After a near-perfect 2023 season, Kopecky had a similarly unprecedented 2024 campaign, adding Paris-Roubaix to her illustrious palmares, alongside second triumphs at Strade Bianche and the World Championships, where she defended her road race rainbow jersey.

"In 2022 I was very happy with my season. Last year I thought: 'It really can't get any better now'. But it worked out," said Kopecky. 

"Now I can say with certainty that it won't work out anymore, but I might be able to do it next year in a different way."