After a difficult Tour de France Femmes, where she battled with a back injury, Lotte Kopecky returned to her winning ways at the Prague Summer Track meeting. The several-time track champion won the omnium, elimination, and points race during the two-day UCI track event.
Not only did the Belgian return to the top of the podium, but she found the "fun factor" that was sorely missing at the French Grand Tour according to the Belgian national coach Tim Carswell.
"I saw her enjoying track riding. The most important thing for an athlete is to have passion for what you do and to enjoy it. Lotte has always had that, but she's also very disciplined. Of course, that difficult period was frustrating, but it wasn't entirely illogical either," Carswell told Wielerflits.
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Carswell elaborated that it is common that the year after the Olympics can be challenging for athletes.
"You put so much time into perfect preparation, and it drains all your energy. That makes it physically and mentally very difficult to maintain that level the following year. Lotte is a superb rider who never disappoints. But you know that sooner or later there will be a period when you're not at your best. But she'll overcome that just as quickly; we know that, and we've never really doubted it."
After a standout season in 2024, where she claimed 16 victories, including the Tour de Romandie Féminin, and second overall at the Giro d’Italia Women, the SD Worx-Protime rider has two victories on the road this year, the Tour of Flanders back in April, and the Belgian time trial title.
Last year, she also secured back-to-back rainbow jerseys as the women's road race world champion, claimed two silver medals at track World Championships in the elimination and points races, earned a bronze medal in the road race at the Paris Olympic Games, and took silver medal in front of a home crowd at the UCI Gravel World Championships. She closed out the 2024 season ranked number one on the UCI World Ranking.
Kopecky returned to the track for the first time this year as part of her late-season schedule, ahead of the Tour de l’Ardèche in France (September 9–14) and the European Championships time trial in October. Her participation at both the road World Championships in Rwanda in September, and track World Championships in Chile in October still remain undecided.
"Who knows, maybe that winning feeling on the track will help her for the rest of her autumn. It's not yet certain she'll compete in the World Track Championships again," Carswell said.
"We're deliberately not making the selection until the end of September, to see who still feels fresh enough then. But combining it with the World Championships in Rwanda on the road is certainly possible, if she wants it. It will take time to recover. But ultimately, it mainly comes down to what Lotte herself wants and considers feasible."
