Rider Profile
Lotte Kopecky
SD Worx-Protime
Personal Details:
Teams history:
- 2025 - SD Worx-Protime
- 2024 - SD Worx-Protime
- 2023 - Team SD Worx
- 2022 - Team SD Worx
- 2021 - Liv Racing
- 2020 - Lotto Soudal Ladies
- 2019 - Lotto Soudal Ladies
- 2018 - Lotto Soudal Ladies
- 2017 - Lotto Soudal Ladies
- 2016 - Lotto Soudal Ladies
Biography:
Classics star and multi-discipline World Champion Lotte Kopecky, born November 10th, 1995 in Rumst, Belgium, turned professional with the Belgian Continental Topsport-Vlaanderen-Pro-Duo team in 2014. Her first win came two years later, in the low-profile Trofee Maerten Wynants one-day race.
A talented track racer, Kopecky has taken two World Track Championships gold medals in the Madison, in 2017 and again in 2022, and another in the points. Also on the track she has netted various European championships, World Cup and national titles.
In 2020 in the revised late season, Kopecky won both the Belgian national road race title and, for the second time of four to date in her career, the national time trial. She also netted a stage victory at the Giro d'Italia Donne and podium finishes at Le Samyn des Dames, Gent-Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders, and Brugge-De Panne.
That string of success was enough for her to move from her longstanding squad Lotto Soudal Ladies to Liv Racing (formerly CCC-Liv) in a one-year deal for 2021, the first Women’s WorldTeam of her career. That season she once again clinched both the time trial and road titles in the Belgian National Championships.
Kopecky’s biggest success on the road has been in one-day Classics, where in 2022, racing for her current SD Worx squad, she triumphed on home soil at the Ronde van Vlaanderen as well as in the Strade Bianche in Italy. Kopecky also secured a second place in Paris-Roubaix, and she rounded it out with a silver medal in the World Championships road race.
It was in 2023 where Kopecky was overcome with emotions as she won the rainbow jersey in the road race at the Glasgow Worlds. Her older brother Seppe, who had raced for seven years, had died unexpectedly in March and he had been an inspiration for Kopecky's highly-successful career. Days following her family's loss, Kopecky raced at Nokere Koerse and smashed the peloton for a solo victory. Since that race, she went on for 11 victories on the road, including the Tour of Flanders, Lotte Thüringen Ladies Tour and double road and time trial national titles in Belgium. To close out 2023 she won the opening stage at the Tour de France Femmes, wearing the yellow jersey for six days, won the GC at Simac Ladies Tour and took third in the road race at the European Championships.
Kopecky had an equally spectacular 2024 season, taking out early wins in Strade Bianche and Nokere Koerse. While she looked uncharacteristically off in the Tour of Flanders, she rebounded to win Paris-Roubaix. She won the opening two stages of the Tour of Britain before claiming dual titles at the Belgian championships, then won a stage and finished second overall in the Giro d'Italia before focussing on the Olympic Games. She made the winning move but couldn't match the USA's Kristen Faulkner in the end game in Paris, but won the bronze medal in a sprint against Marianne Vos. She closed out her season with wins in the Tour de Romandie and the European time trial championships before successfully defending her rainbow jersey in the UCI Road World Championships in Zurich.
Key results
2024
🥇 UCI Road World Championships elite women's road race
🥉 Olympic Games road race
🥇 Strade Bianche
🥇 Nokere Koerse
🥇 Paris-Roubaix
🥇 Two stages, overall Tour of Britain
🥇 Belgian National Championships road race
🥇 Belgian National Championships time trial
🥇 One stage, points classification Giro d'Italia
🥇 Tour de Romandie
🥇 European Championships time trial
🥇 One stage, overall Simac Ladies Tour
2023
🥇 UCI Road World Championships elite women's road race
🥇 One stage and points classification at Tour de France Femmes
🥇 Tour of Flanders
🥇 Danilith Nokere Koerse
🥇 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
🥇 One stage and GC at Lotto Belgium Tour
🥇 Two stages, points classification and GC at Thüringen Ladies Tour
🥇 Belgian National Championships road race
🥇 Belgian National Championships time trial
🥈 Strade Bianche
2022
🥇 World Track Championships in Madison (and 2017)
🥇 Tour of Flanders
🥇 Strade Bianche
🥇 One stage at Vuelta a Burgos
🥇 Belgian National Championships time trial
🥈 Paris-Roubaix
🥈 World Road Championships road race
2021
🥇 One stage at Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta
🥇 One stage at Thüringen Ladies Tour
🥇 Belgian National Championships road race
🥇 Belgian National Championships time trial
Fourth Tokyo Olympic Games road race
2020
🥇 One stage at Giro d’Italia Donne
🥇 Belgian National Championships road race
🥇 Belgian National Championships time trial
2019
🥇 Belgian National Championships time trial
🥇 Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana Feminas
🥈 Lotto Belgium Tour
2018
🥇 World Track Championships in Points
🥈Belgian National Championships time trial
Related Articles
Lotte Kopecky: The Dutch team played it perfectly at Road European Championships
By Daniel Ostanek published
News Belgian 'happy' that successful 2023 season is drawing to a close
Lotte Kopecky sports new rainbow jersey, world champion's Specialized S-Works
By Kirsten Frattini published
News 'It would be very nice to get my first WorldTour victory photo in this jersey' says new world champion at Simac Ladies Tour
Mathieu van der Poel and Lotte Kopecky show off rainbow jerseys at Etten Leur criterium
By Stephen Farrand published
News Dutch criterium could be van der Poel’s last road race of the 2023 season
Loss and triumph - Lotte Kopecky ends emotional year in rainbows
By Kirsten Frattini published
Feature 'I don’t know what keeps me pushing'- Belgian opens up about family tragedy, winning three world titles, and inspiring a new generation
Women's World Championship medalists open up about mental stress in cycling
By Laura Weislo published
News Ludwig, Vollering emphasise the need for balance with busy calendar
2023 UCI Road World Championships – Riders to watch in the elite/U23 women's road race
By Simone Giuliani last updated
Can Kopecky and Vollering keep Tour de France Femmes form rolling or will Balsamo, Lippert, Niewiadoma or Dygert reach for rainbows?
Kopecky not daunted by status of Road World Championships favourite
By Laura Weislo published
News Belgian eyeing Italian team to stage a coup
Lotte Kopecky lays down Road World Championships marker with third track medal
By Laura Weislo published
News Belgian fine with favourite status for Sunday women’s road race
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