Dreams turn into goals from a very young age, and Lotte Kopecky’s situation is the same. Since she was just a teenager she used to go crazy after her two heroes from the sports world, Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara. Although they were rivals, they were celebrities in the eyes of the world and were a driving force for Kopecky.
Years later, Lotte Kopecky has become a celebrity herself as she now rides for UCI Women’s WorldTeam SD Worx. Her biggest debut will be in the Tour of Flanders and we will not have to wait long for that. The black, yellow and red jersey of SD Worx certainly suits her.
In an interview, Kopecky said:
Belgium was already crazy, but they went nuts after my victory in Strade Bianche. But it’s really nice. I feel the support from all the people much more. Even today, people supported me on the recon, which was nice.
Flanders is her home, she is disciplined enough for the tour and is even showing a lot of promise. She even shared the fact that she often gets stopped by fans for an autograph and sometimes misses the anonymity offered by the face mask during the raging pandemic.
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Kopecky said:
I was happy to wear the mouth masks. Without it, [fans] start to recognise me. I’m still not sure if I like that because sometimes I want to go for a coffee or something without people saying ‘hi’ every time or asking for photos. Belgium is crazy about their cyclists.
Yes, I get asked for autographs. I was on a bike bath last year, and a car passed, and they wound down the window and said, ‘hey, can we have a photo?’ I was like, ‘right now … because I’m riding’, but they wanted to stop up the road for a photo.
Kopecky has been watching the Tour of Flanders since she was just a child, since then she considered Cancellara and Boonen as her heroes. There were not a lot of female riders back then, even if they were they were not broadcasted like the men, you had to go to the venues to see them in action. This lack of coverage made her feel sad but also motivated her to make a change.
Women’s races weren’t on television, so it was hard to follow.
I never went to the Tour of Flanders, but this race and Paris-Roubaix, we’re actually at the races that I saw on television for the first time. It was the men because the women weren’t on the television. If you see how this race is while living in Belgium, it’s cool.
It’s super important. If I saw it myself when I was younger, there was nothing on television. It was not that as a young rider I was simply inspired by one female rider and said, ‘when I’m older, I want to be like her.’ And I think at this moment, this could be the thing that changes that, so now younger riders are watching our races and think like, yeah, I want to be the next big rider.
Lotte Kopecky is a star now and more importantly, she is a symbol of hope and inspiration to many young women around the world. She has shown the world that anything can be done if you can put your heart into it. Now women will aspire to become the next Lotte Kopecky as she flaunts her wings!
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Featured Image Via YouTube/Team SD Worx
