World champion Lotte Kopecky is rounding off her spring Classics campaign with Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes, with the Belgian aiming to add La Doyenne to her palmarès following a fall at La Flèche Wallonne midweek.
Kopecky's SD Worx-Protime squad have won four of the previous eight editions of the Ardennes Monument, with Anna van der Breggen and Demi Vollering sharing two wins apiece.
The Belgian, however, has only taken part in the race once, finishing 38th last year. Speaking ahead of this year's edition, which runs 153km from Bastogne to Liège, she said that she feels ready to take on the challenge, while she has a "peace of mind" having already won the Tour of Flanders this spring.
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"The fact that I already have a win in the Tour of Flanders in my pocket gives me peace of mind. For me, that is the best possible starting position, namely that I can work towards Sunday in peace and quiet," Kopecky said.
"If I had not won anything so far, the pressure would have been a lot higher. But with the Tour of Flanders, I already have a Monument in my pocket, so that gives confidence. I really enjoy setting goals before the season and then living up to them. That in itself is an extra motivation to also be able to win in Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday.
"I think I'm ready for it. Since the Tour of Flanders and actually only since the Amstel Gold Race, I have that fresher feeling I was looking for again. It would be nice if I can have that same feeling next Sunday. I also had a good feeling in Wednesday's race, but that last climb just doesn't suit me as much. So, I'm heading to Liège positive and with confidence."
Kopecky heads into the Walloon Monument, which features the Côte de Stockeu, Côte de la Redoute, and Côte de Roche-aux-Faucons, off the back of a 34th place at Amstel Gold Race and 12th at La Flèche Wallonne.
She fell victim to a crash in the latter race, won by Fenix-Deceuninck's Puck Pieterse, though told WielerFlits after the finish that she had a "good feeling" ahead of the weekend despite the disappointing result.
"I didn't have an ideal start on the Muur. That's my own fault, of course, but then you don't have much room to make up for it on a climb like this," she said. "I had a good feeling in both races, and I'm going into Sunday with a lot of confidence. Liège is harder than Flèche, but it doesn't have a finish like this."
Kopecky admitted that last year's Liège debut was "disappointing" despite her strong form heading into the race. Nevertheless, she said that she was glad she started to find out "how that race goes and how the climbs in a race feel."
Her SD Worx-Protime team have already tasted success during the Ardennes Classics, with Mischa Bredewold scoring the biggest win of her career with a 2km solo ride to glory at Amstel Gold Race.
The Dutchwoman, along with Steffi Häberlin, Femke Gerritse, and Mikayla Harvey, will form part of the SD Worx squad on Sunday. Van der Breggen, who skipped Flèche due to illness, will also line up in Bastogne.
"Anna and I are a nice duo who complement each other. With a fit Anna, you pretty much have a certainty in the final. It's always nicer to go into the final with two," Kopecky said of her teammate, who returned to racing this season following three years in the team car as directeur sportif.
"Anna has a lot of course insight, and communication between the two of us is very smooth. It's also nice to be able to exchange thoughts during the race. In the Tour of Flanders, she played an important role for me. She gave me a lot of confidence towards the Oude Kwaremont. I hope we can play the game together on Sunday."
"The fact that we have such a strong team at the start takes a lot of pressure off. I just like being able to play different cards. Sometimes it falls your way and sometimes not. I don't mind that either, it's just nice to share that pressure and have a freer feeling in the race.
"What triumphing in the rainbow jersey would mean to me? It would be a dream. If that would succeed, spring would be more than successful. It would be really nice to be able to tick off Liège-Bastogne-Liège."
