Lotte Kopecky’s first race as the 2024 world champion won’t see her donning the rainbow jersey. Instead, she will compete at the UCI Gravel World Championships in Belgium on October 7th, aiming for yet another rainbow jersey. Kopecky, a gravel novice, has already made waves this year by winning Paris-Roubaix Femmes and Strade Bianche.
“I’ve never ridden a gravel race in my entire life, but it’ll be fun,” Kopecky shared from Zurich. “I’m excited to do a different kind of race. I’ve heard there’s a lot of asphalt as well as gravel, and I’ll do a recon once I’m back in Belgium. It’d be nice to win another rainbow jersey. It’s a goal but since I’ve never raced on gravel, it’s hard to say what I can do. I just want to enjoy the race. Of course, I’ll try to be up there to win.”
Impressive line-up for UCI Gravel World Championships
The entry list for the Gravel World Championships is formidable. New under-23 road world champion Puck Pieterse, who has dominated mountain bike racing and cyclocross this year, will be there. Other notable entries include Fem van Empel, Lorena Wiebes, former cyclocross world champions Sanne Cant and Lucinda Brand, Marianne Vos, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Tiffany Cromwell, and 2023 Paris-Roubaix winner Alison Jackson.
Pieterse, targeting her fourth cycling discipline of the season, has high hopes. “The plan is to be at the start of the Gravel World Championships in Belgium next weekend, although I heard that almost all the elite women from the Netherlands are also racing. It should be a fun race to watch,” Pieterse said, clearly amused after the Netherlands’ tactical mistake in the women’s road race on September 30th. “I’ll continue to surf on a positive vibe for a while, just like the last few weeks. It has been very busy, but so far everything has always worked well.”
Despite her inexperience in gravel racing, Kopecky is seen as a strong contender on the flat, 133km Flemish Brabant forest course. Kopecky is also expected to target more world titles on the track at the end of October in Denmark.
