Belgian Lotte Kopecky crowned world road champion

17/08/2023

By winning the ultimate event, the road race, the Belgian became the queen of women's cycling, topping off a total of 29 medals won by Belgians at the World Cycling Championships.

At the World Cycling Championships in Glasgow, Belgium lived up to its reputation as a cycling nation. After just over ten days of competition, our cyclists left with a total of 29 medals, including ten rainbow jerseys as world champion.

It's true that in Scotland, 13 cycling sports were on the programme for these XXL World Cycling Championships, whose slogan was: "The biggest cycling event ever". Over ten days, ten of the 29 Belgian medals were won in the Gran Fondo, a road cycling event reserved for amateur cyclists. Our para-cyclists were also able to shine, winning a total of eight medals, including two world champion titles for Maxime Hordies and Jonas Van de Steene.

Some of the titles in this Belgian harvest were of course seen as more prestigious. Remco Evenepoel's victory as world time trial champion is one of them. But Lotte Kopecky's victory in women's cycling's main event, the road race, takes on a special flavour because it was won with such panache.

The second-placed rider in the last Tour de France was first of all able to position herself in a very good breakaway group towards the end of the race, accompanied in particular by defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten. Then, with five kilometres to go, on one of the final climbs of the circuit, she was able to use her power and break away alone, never to be caught again by her pursuers.

Lotte Kopecky's stunning victory at the Cycling World Championships in Glasgow marks a significant milestone in her already impressive career. Her talent, determination and passion for cycling have been taken to a new level, confirming her position as one of the most talented cyclists of her generation.