'Sometimes it is up to me to bang on the table and say that I am still here' – Why Lotte Kopecky demanding Milan-San Remo leadership is an ominous sign for the rest of the Classics

Just over a year ago, Lotte Kopecky was talking about a shift in focus towards trying to win the Tour de France Femmes overall. It was an experiment that never really got off the ground, and a season – aside from a third Tour of Flanders win – largely to forget.

A knee issue ruined her winter and continued to affect her during the Spring Classics, and back pain stymied her yellow jersey dreams and saw her ride a relatively absent race – by her high standards – at the Tour.

As she reached the end of the season, Kopecky's win tally was only at three, having netted 16 and 14 in the two years prior and gone back-to-back at Worlds. Women's cycling's dominant force was suddenly a shadow of herself, doing most of her best work for the likes of Lorena Wiebes.

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But with a reset for 2026, and a conscious decision to no longer chase GC at the Tour de France Femmes, Kopecky returned to her rightful spot with a career highlight victory at Milan-San Remo. It's fair to say that she's back at her best, and she almost knew she would be.

Pre-race, Kopecky had been clear in her words that both she and defending San Remo champion Wiebes would be equal options for the finale, telling media that "We are at the start with two leaders. It's as simple as that. What if Lorena and I ride to the finish together in a small group? We'll see later."

With both making it past the horror Cipressa descent crash that changed the race, SD Worx-ProTime had Blanka Vas pace in the group behind lone leader Lieke Nooijen to ensure their leaders had a real chance over the Poggio, Kopecky as attacker and Wiebes as an ever-present sprint option.

When Puck Pieterse lit things up and attacked, Kopecky followed, eventually outsprinting her, Noemi Rüegg, and Eleonora Gasparrini to the line, but the Dutch champion revealed post-race that this was 90% the scenario they wanted and were expecting as a team.

This is perhaps best highlighted by the Belgian accelerating towards the front of the group even before Pieterse had actually tried to kick away on the Poggio – she was so ready for any attacks, it was almost as if she preempted the move entirely. Kopecky may not have matched previous years in 2025, but the champion's mindset hadn't disappeared; she demanded to be the focus for SD Worx on Saturday.

"We couldn't pronounce [our tactics] before the races, you know. Sometimes it is up to me—how should I put it?—to bang on the table and say that I am still here too," said Kopecky to Sporza.

"It is nice that Lorena fully supports that as well. There will be matches where it will be the other way around. This way, working together remains pleasant, we continue to respect each other, and we are happy to pull each other out of the fire. The fact that it turned out this way is wonderful."

Back to her roots, back to the top

It's an ominous sign for all of her competitors that Kopecky was demanding this kind of leadership, a ruthless sign of how hungry she is for this year's Classics campaign after the disappointments of 12 months ago.

With the two-time World Champion back firing on all cylinders, and Wiebes as the permanent most clinical finisher in all of cycling, men's or women's, it returns SD Worx-ProTime to their status as the team to beat in the Classics.

From Gent-Wevelgem through to Paris-Roubaix, the Dutch outfit will never be without a heavy favourite, and after the likes of Visma-Lease a Bike, UAE ADQ and FDJ-United Suez had caught up and perhaps surpassed them, Kopecky being back in flying form brings the closer to being back on top.

A fourth Flanders title from five attempts is looking as likely as ever, and preventing her from taking a second Paris-Roubaix Femmes title will be quite the task now, with momentum on her side. What we saw last season should go down simply as a blip for the Belgian; all she needed, it seems, was to focus back on the races best suited to her.

Women's cycling has long bred more versatility than men's – ignoring a certain Tadej Pogačar for a second – with the best riders at the Grand Tours, cobbled Classics and Ardennes Classics often overlapping.

You can still do that, of course, but with more professionalism entering the sport and riders reaching the WorldTour younger and younger, specialisation, to an extent, seems to be more important than ever, and it's exactly what Kopecky needs now.

Finishing second overall at both the Tour de France Femmes and Giro d'Italia are results that may live on as anomalies as she continues on her career, but focusing on winning more Monuments and the biggest Classics is definitely the path for her to take.

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