Lotte Kopecky Abandons Goal of Tour de France Femmes GC, at Least for Now

Lotte Kopecky made clear last winter that the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift was a major goal but one year on, all has changed for the Belgian.

The multiple world champion had a difficult season in 2025 and, as a result, is completely revising her approach and her ambitions.

While she has finished on the podium in the past, the GC will not be an target, at least not for next year.

“I can already say that in 2026 I will not be focusing on a Tour classification,” Kopecky said at the Belgian track championships, according to Sporza.

“I think I mainly need to do what I enjoy most.”

Her program is yet to emerge but she gave an overview about what types of races she will aim for.

It’s less about high altitude cols, and more about cobbles and bergs.

Kopecky may well ride one or more grand tours, but stage hunting would appear to be the limit of her ambitions.

‘It was already mentally too much’

The step backwards will likely disappoint many of her fans.

After all, Kopecky did finish second overall in the Tour de France Femmes in 2023. She was also runner-up in last year’s Giro d’Italia Women.

Those two podium finishes set Belgian hearts racing, with many speculating she could win the Tour. To her credit, Kopecky went all in on an effort to try.

But things simply didn’t go to plan. She trailed in only 45th, a distant 1 hour and 16 seconds behind the winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. That was a long, long way off from where she hoped to be.

And while back injuries saw her withdraw from the Giro—despite stage placings of second, third and fourth—she revealed those niggles were not the only problem.

“I am someone who relies a lot on feeling. But last season I started working with a dietitian, and that was a big burden for me,” she said. “Now the numbers came into play and you expect very big changes. But they did not come.

“In preparation, it was already mentally too much.”

Her experience contrasts with that of Ferrand-Prévot, who dropped four kilos for the Tour and who won by almost four minutes.

That worked out well for the French rider, but Kopecky’s own control of the calories had a rebound effect. Her engine spluttered rather than soared, and she was all but anonymous.

Crashing hard during the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l’Ardèche was a further insult, with a fractured vertebra ending her road season and putting her off the bike for quite some time.

Little wonder she has done a lot of revaluation about where her career is at.

‘Of course I had question marks’

If 2023 and 2024 were morale-boosting, 2025 was a big downer. Kopecky’s back issues dragged on for much of the season, and obviously got worse with her crash. Her unsuccessful collaboration with the dietician may also explain the drop in her form.

While she did win the Tour of Flanders, she clearly ran out of steam in Paris-Roubaix. At one point she appeared to be the strongest rider in the race, hammering on the front for several cobblestone sectors, but ultimately faded to 12th.

Getting back into shape after her vertebral fracture was a priority and she will take encouragement from her showing in the Belgian track championships this weekend. She dominated the omnium competition, winning all four rounds, and ended the event with 235 points. That was almost double the 135 points of second-placed Katrijn De Clerq.

As a first race back it was very encouraging.

“Since September I had not had a race, certainly not on the track. Of course I had question marks, but it turned out better today than I thought,” she said.

Still, Kopecky is not taking anything for granted.

“The recovery is going well, but the injury still raises a question mark.

“A protrusion of a vertebra was broken, and the surrounding muscles also took a heavy hit. For now, it’s going well, but I hope it won’t cause me trouble later when the load increases and I compete in more races.”

Still, providing things to go plan, she envisages a big spring campaign.

The details of Kopecky’s program will follow later, but suffice to say she’s feeling ambitious.

“I already have a plan in my mind. I am thinking of the European Track Championships at the beginning of February.

“After that, I want to race as many classics as possible, and preferably win them too.”

Kopecky may decide to revisit her Tour GC goals again at some point in two or three years.

For now, though, she’s going back to what she does best, and will be all the happier for it.