There was a clear line drawn at the start of the year to the Tour de France Femmes for Lotte Kopecky, finishing second in 2023 even as she and the team supported Demi Vollering to victory, so 2025 was the year where she would get her chance to be the supported GC rider.
The World Champion looked every bit ready to take on the challenge and the team shifts meant she was now the clear-cut go-to rider to chase yellow, but that plan began unravelling when Kopecky hit the climbs of the Giro d’Italia earlier this month and languished after being suddenly hit by back pain.
That stymied the preparation, with the rider pulling the plug on the Italian race where she came second last year, and it also introduced an element of doubt about what was ahead.
