Lotte Kopecky and Jasper Philipsen have been crowned as the Flandrien and Flandrienne riders of the year at the Het Nieuwsblad awards ceremony in Ostend, with Kopecky completing a rare double, after also winning the Kristallen Fiets award in October.
European Champion Fleur Moors won the Junior award, Alec Segaert the Under 23 award, while Mathieu van der Poel was named as the International Flandrien for his world title and Classics success. Peter Sagan and Greg van Avermaet were given the Lifetime Achievement Award and were present in Ostend, with Sagan keen to point out he has retired from WorldTour road racing but not mountain biking, with the 2024 Paris Olympics still a goal.
Kopecky also won the Grand Prix Patrick Sercu award for winning the elimination and the points race world titles on the track and confirming her multitude of talents. She has now won the Flandrienne award for four consecutive years.
In an online reader vote, Kopecky’s success at the Tour de France Femmes and how she fought but ultimately failed to keep the yellow jersey on the Col du Tourmalet was selected as biggest ‘spark’ moment of the season, ahead of Wout Van Aert allowing Christophe Laporte to win the E3 Saxo Bank Classic and him shouting at the television cameras.
“I look back on that week in the yellow jersey with great memories,” Kopecky said after collecting her trophy.
“That was a dream week, because that was perhaps my best week on the bike, while the Tour of the year before was perhaps my worst week on the bike.”
“I'm a bit surprised to win the ‘spark’ award but it’s a lot of fun as a woman to outdo those men.”
Kopecky’s 2023 season also included wins at Omloop Nieuwsblad, Danilith Nokere Koerse and the Tour of Flanders for the second time. She was Belgian national champion in both the road and time trial, won the opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes and finished second overall behind her SD Worx teammate Demi Vollering after six days in the yellow jersey. She then won the world road race title in Glasgow.
Sadly Kopecky also had to overcome the sudden loss of her brother Seppe during the spring of 2023.
“I learned a lot of hard life lessons and gained a lot of human knowledge. I can only hope that it has made me stronger,” she said.
“It's a great feeling when you’re racing,” Kopecky said, after seeing the video highlight of her season on a big screen.
“I remember the Tour of Flanders a few years ago, when I was among my group in the chasing group on the Oude Kwaremont. To be able to ride away whenever I want, that gives me a lot of self-confidence.”
Jasper Philipsen had just arrived in Belgium from the Saitama Tour de France criterium in Japan but put on a suit to collect his huge steel Flandrien trophy.
He was the most successful professional racer in 2023, taking 19 victories, including four Tour de France stage wins and the green points jersey. He also finished second to teammate Van der Poel at Paris-Roubaix.
The men’s Flandrien award is decided by a vote and points score, including votes from Belgian professionals. Philipsen beat Remco Evenepoel, gaining 584 points, while the time trial world champion scored 538 points.
Arnaud De Lie was third (441 points), Wout van Aert fourth (408) and Cian Uijtdebroeks (204) fifth.
“I’m a bit surprised to win but that is the nicest appreciation you can get,” Philipsen said.
“Everyone in the peloton knows what cycling entails and how hard work it is. Receiving that appreciation from the peloton is very nice.”
Philipsen played down being the fastest sprinter in the world in an exclusive interview with Cyclingnews in Saitama but showed his ambitions for 2024.
"A championship jersey would be nice," he said. "I think this was my best season so far. I'm always there to try to improve and for sure there are also other goals left for next year and the coming years, so looking forward.
“It will be very, very difficult to do better in 2024,” Philipsen suggested at the Flandrien awards.
“The next step is to achieve top results in the spring classics. And the Olympic Games are also high on my list.”
