Winning a Monument is an epic feat. Winning a Monument five times in four years is greater still. Winning a Monument for the sixth time, just two weeks after claiming the last one? Now that’s an achievement of absurd proportion. Throw in a home crowd for good measure and it becomes incredulous. Lotte Kopecky knows she’s under the cosh.
But speaking to Rouleur ahead of the Tour of Flanders, the Belgian SD Worx-Protime rider shows no signs of panic, still glowing with the aura of last month’s Milan-Sanremo Donne victory.
“[My form] compared to last year is much better. That’s already a good thing. I’m just at the level I should be. It should be enough to win Classics,” says the double world champion, who returns to defend the crown jewels of Flemish cycling.
“Winning [Nokere Koerse] and then Sanremo really gave me a lot of relief. The big Classic is already won, so in my head it gives me a lot of freedom going into Flanders. Of course, the pressure from outside is pretty big, but I really try to not let it affect me too much.”
Kopecky looks good going into de Ronde, and boy does she know it. Now, sat before press at the BMW headquarters in Tielt, the corners of her mouth turn upwards in a wry smile. “It’s not easy to win races, although maybe it looks easy,” she says.
Kopecky aims to take her sixth Monument win on Sunday (Image credit: Getty)
But while patience powered her to a classy triumph in Sanremo, Sunday is surely a different matter. That victory came in the notable absence of her main rivals, including ex-teammates Demi Vollering and Marlen Reusser, and UAE Team Emirates–ADQ’s Elisa Longo Borghini – the rider who disrupted Kopecky’s De Ronde reign in 2024. To conquer the cobbled bergs is one thing, but to do so against the outrageous standard of Sunday’s startlist is another.
But try as we might to probe the prospect of pressure, Kopecky is bullish and unfazed.
“Of course, we know each other. We know how they think, but that’s also the other way around. They know my strengths, and they know how I think while racing.
“I don’t need to see myself as a favourite, I know my qualities, I know my form, and that’s enough. I don’t really care if the other riders see me as a top favourite or not either. It’s not going to influence my race,” said the 30-year-old.
Read more: Tour of Flanders 2026 women's preview - who will win in a wide open De Ronde?
Her confidence – bolstered by the flying form of Lorena Wiebes, the other half of SD Worx’s leading duo – silently, knowingly, betrays her maturity. It’s this race experience that informs classy tactical decisions, like the one which led her to accelerate on the Oude Kwaremont, steering a front group of four to Oudenaarde in last year’s finale.
The Belgian rider lifted the trophy at last years edition, where she achieved her third Tour of Flanders win (Image credit: SWPix.com)
“I’ve always been able to rely on my intuition a lot. In one day raises, intuition [matters] more than in Grand Tours. You can be very strong, but if you waste your energy at the wrong moment, it’s gone. You have to keep yourself calm, but then the course hasn’t changed much over the years, so sometimes it gets a little bit predictable,” she said.
Of all the adjectives to describe the ruthless hellingen for which the Tour of Flanders is renowned, “predictable” might just be my last choice. The brutal tests laid down by the parcours, coupled with a starting field of such high calibre, make it virtually impossible to come up with a race prognosis. Who knows what De Ronde has in store this weekend.
But for Belgian fans set to gather across the region to watch Sunday’s drama unfold, they can at least be assured of one thing. Their rider is ready, waiting in the wings.
