As Remco Evenepoel grew to become the twenty third male bike owner to win the Belgian Sportsman of the Yr award on Sunday evening, Lotte Kopecky set a milestone as the primary rider from the ladies’s peloton to select up the Belgian Sportswoman of the Yr.
The SD Worx famous person loved the perfect season of her profession in 2023, turning into world champion on the highway and the monitor in addition to choosing up Classics wins on the Tour of Flanders, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and Nokere Koerse.
If that wasn’t sufficient, she took nationwide titles within the highway race and time trial and led the Tour de France Femmes for six days, profitable a stage en path to second total and the factors jersey in Pau.
All that – and extra moreover – noticed the 28-year-old professional bike owner win the award forward of EuroBasket and Euroleague basketball champion and MVP Emma Meesseman and world bronze and European silver medallist determine skater Loena Hendrickx.
“My week in Glasgow stood out in 2023. The Tour de France could not compete with that. However a rainbow costume would have been a bit too flashy,” Kopecky advised Het Nieuwsblad, jokily referencing the yellow costume she wore for the ceremony.
“That very first world title on the highway I fee even larger than the one on the monitor. Anyway, Glasgow was one protracted spotlight in a yr that was implausible sport-wise. I feel that I could not do way more this yr.”
Kopecky, whose 14 highway wins in 2023 additionally included the Simac Women Tour and the Thüringen Women Tour, known as the season her “yr of resilience”, having suffered the lack of her brother Seppe in March. Three days later she went on to take an emotional win in Nokere Koerse.
“It was an excellent season that could be very troublesome for me to match,” she stated. “For me, this was particularly the yr of lots of resilience. I thank my household, my workforce and a few particular associates who supported me within the troublesome moments.”
She stated that being first to win the award – by comparability, it has gone to tennis gamers 16 instances and judoka 11 instances – wasn’t overly essential to her. As a substitute, she famous the excessive degree of competitors throughout quite a few sports activities and stated that she hopes to set an instance for the following technology of riders.
“I am not that involved about being the primary in one thing,” Kopecky stated. “I do not connect a lot worth to that. However I’m proud to face right here as a girl and a bike owner. I fee this trophy very extremely as a result of this competitors covers all sports activities. This was a second I undoubtedly did not need to miss.
“Once I see how a lot consideration there may be for girls’s biking now in comparison with 5 years in the past it has develop into a unique world. I simply hope to proceed to set instance for the youth and ensure the following technology can reap the advantages.
“I am not somebody who’s going to decide to 10,000 completely different initiatives, however I do hope to encourage the youth by my achievements. I feel I am fairly good at that.”
Kopecky and her SD Worx teammates, together with fellow stars Demi Vollering, Lorena Wiebes, and Marlen Reusser, are in Spain this week for a pre-season coaching camp the place the workforce will plan for the brand new season.
For Kopecky – ranked second within the 2023 UCI world rankings behind Vollering – and her workforce which racked up an enormous 61 wins, sustaining the wonderful degree of success will probably be an enormous problem going ahead.
“Staying on the prime might be much more troublesome than getting there, I am conscious of that,” Kopecky stated. “In any case, I am actually wanting ahead to it. I need to actually peak for the primary time in April.
“Spring will probably be essential for me. I nonetheless have an open account with Paris-Roubaix. Solely after the spring will I determine about taking part within the Tour de France Femmes. There’s nonetheless lots of doubt, despite the fact that the Tour passes by Belgium. However the Olympics are essential – they are going to be actually particular.”