Excelling in the Classics again may have been the focus for Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) in the early part of the 2025 season but the work toward the world champion's Tour de France Femmes aspirations is now taking centre-stage, beginning at Vuelta a Burgos Feminas on Thursday.
Up until this year, 2023 winner Demi Vollering has been the main overall card for SD Worx-Protime at the French Grand Tour but, with the Dutch now at FDJ-Suez, Kopecky is dedicating her attention toward recapturing another of cycling's top prizes, the yellow jersey, for her team. The versatile rider has already come second at the race, in 2023, and also clinched the runner-up spot at the Giro d'Italia Women in 2024 to prove her climbing credentials, but the varied terrain of the four-stage Vuelta a Burgos from May 22 to 25 will be her first stage-race of this season and first real test of how she is this year progressing toward her mid-season goal.
"I am very eager to race again," Kopecky, who last pinned on a number at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes nearly a month ago, said in a team statement. "I finished the spring with a relatively positive and fresh feeling. That fresh feeling was because I haven't raced as much this season.
"I took a week to let everything sink in mentally and then I immediately jumped back on the bike. Meanwhile, I have been in Spain for a week now, where I had a good training camp."
Kopecky's Classics block – which included her third win at Tour of Flanders – means she is one of the riders freshly leaping back into the fray at Vuelta a Burgos, the third Women's World Tour stage race of a Spanish block which has already seen the Vuelta Femenina and Itzulia Women play out – both won by Vollering. The former teammate of Kopecky will not be lining up at Burgos, however many other key rivals will.
"The signals at training are pretty positive, so we're going into it freely and will try to make the most of it," said Kopecky. "It also remains to be seen what condition the riders who rode the Vuelta Femenina are in."
Vuelta a Burgos starts with a 125km stage with three category 3 climbs on the way to a finish with an uphill run to the line in the last kilometres and then moves onto a flatter 122km stage 2, although there is a category 3 climb which tops out 7km from the line which could provide a launching point. Stage 3 provides the big challenge of the tour, finishing on the Picón Blanco, an hors catégorie (HC) climb of 7.8km at an average gradient of 9%. The overall victor will be crowned after the closing time trial stage on Sunday, a 9.4 km test.
"There is a bit of everything and that makes it fun," said Kopecky, who last lined up at the event in 2022. "The first two stages might be a chance to score and the time trial should suit me as well. In the penultimate stage with the final climb Picón Blanco I will mainly see how far I can get. That in itself is a first good measure with a view to the Tour de France Femmes."
Kopecky, added that: "It is somewhat a question mark as to how I will digest it and that's precisely why it's a good test to see where I stand on such a difficult climb."
There is little question mark for the team, however, on the strength of their chances in the first two stages as not only will Kopecky be on hand but they also have the sprint speed of Lorena Wiebes.
"We know perfectly what our job entails and have blind faith in each other," said Kopecky. "So we will see how we will play the cards."
