Lotte Kopecky to miss Tour de France Femmes with Olympics the main goal

Lotte Kopecky will skip the Tour de France Femmes this year due to the race starting straight after the Paris Olympics. 

Her SD Worx-Protime DS Danny Stam told Sporza that the timings between the end of the games and the start of the race in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, will make participation impossible. The Olympics wrap up in the French capital just one day before the Rotterdam Grand Départ. 

"The omnium ends on Sunday afternoon, the Tour starts on Monday morning. It is almost impossible to do that properly," Stam said. "Combining those two events would also be a very difficult task mentally."

After ticking off victory at Paris-Roubaix Femmes, the Olympic Games are now the big target for Kopecky this summer. The Belgian will be a favourite for the gold medal in the women’s road race as well as in other events on the track, including the Omnium. 

Kopecky wore the race leader's yellow jersey for much of last year’s Tour de France Femmes. The Belgian won the opening stage and then held the race lead up until the closing stages before the race was won by her teammate, Demi Vollering. She eventually finished second.

Kopecky was thought to have an eye on this year's edition after it was revealed at the route presentation that the course would include sections on her home roads of Belgium. Stage three uses part of the Liège-Bastogne-Liège course and stage four departs from Bastogne.

However, she hinted at the time that there was a chance she could miss the race due to the significance of the Olympics and her commitments in the Omnium. 

"When I see the course, I definitely want to ride. The fact that it goes through Belgium is also a very nice thing. On the other hand, the Tour is every year while the Olympic Games are only once every four years. There are also very nice goals coming up after the Tour, so it is very unclear at the moment," she said

"The switch from track to road is not a problem in itself, that is not my biggest fear. The Tour in itself is simply very tough and after such an omnium you have not only been physically very deep, but also mentally."

As well as winning Roubaix this Spring, Kopecky also won Strade Bianche in early March. She is set to ride the Tour of Britain Women in June and the Giro d’Italia Donne before the Olympics get started. 

It was announced on Monday that SD Worx and Protime had extended their sponsorship of the team to 2028, with Lorena Wiebes also signing a new contract with the team that would keep her there to the same year. Specialized will continue until 2028 too, while Vollering will leave the team at the end of this year.