Excelling in the Classics again may have been the focus for Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) in the early part of the 2025 season but the work toward the world champion’s Tour de France Femmes aspirations is now taking centre-stage, beginning at Vuelta a Burgos Feminas on Thursday.
Up until this year, 2023 winner Demi Vollering has been the main overall card for SD Worx-Protime at the French Grand Tour but, with the Dutch now at FDJ-Suez, Kopecky is dedicating her attention toward recapturing another of cycling’s top prizes, the yellow jersey, for her team. The versatile rider has already come second at the race, in 2023, and also clinched the runner-up spot at the Giro d’Italia Women in 2024 to prove her climbing credentials, but the varied terrain of the four-stage Vuelta a Burgos from May 22 to 25 will be her first stage-race of this season and first real test of how she is this year progressing toward her mid-season goal.
“I am very eager to race again,” Kopecky, who last pinned on a number at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes nearly a month ago, said in a team statement. “I finished the spring with a relatively positive and fresh feeling. That fresh feeling was because I haven’t raced as much this season.
“There is a bit of everything and that makes it fun,” said Kopecky, who last lined up at the event in 2022. “The first two stages might be a chance to score and the time trial should suit me as well. In the penultimate stage with the final climb Picón Blanco I will mainly see how far I can get. That in itself is a first good measure with a view to the Tour de France Femmes.”
There is little question mark for the team, however, on the strength of their chances in the first two stages as not only will Kopecky be on hand but they also have the sprint speed of Lorena Wiebes.