The newest difficulty of Biking Weekly journal, out as we speak, is led by an eight-page interview with world champion Lotte Kopecky.
I had the pleasure of conducting and writing it. A few of you will have already obtained your copy, however whether or not you could have learn it but or not, I assumed it apt to share extra from behind the scenes.
Our dialog came about the week after Kopecky gained the UAE Tour, and – regardless of having spent the previous couple of years quizzing everybody from professional riders to firm executives – I’ve by no means been so nervous for an interview in my life. Previously eight months alone, I’ve watched the Belgian declare three world titles, two European titles in a 19-minute window on the observe, and a milestone first mountaintop victory on Jebel Hafeet, dropping among the strongest climbers within the peloton.
As her rainbow jersey testifies, Kopecky is the very best bicycle owner on this planet. And it’s not typically, uncommon in truth, that you just get half an hour to speak completely with the world champion. My nerves, I felt, had been justified.
All my correspondence within the lead-up to the interview was with Gretel, the press officer at SD Worx-Protime. After two weeks of forwards and backwards, she despatched me an e-mail one night to say that Kopecky had made time for a name with me on Saturday morning, at 8am.
I don’t are inclined to see that hour on a Saturday. So, eager to be punctual, I set three alarms earlier than 7am, and slept terribly. I wakened hourly all through the evening, like an anxious traveller nervous about lacking an early flight. I used to be then at my desk earlier than the solar was within the sky.
Two minutes earlier than 8am, I obtained an e-mail. “Lotte Kopecky has joined your Zoom assembly,” it stated. The nerves rose sharply to a crescendo. I booted up the decision, and there she was, dialling in from a coaching camp in Spain, sporting AirPods and a coral pink-t-shirt.
I stated hiya, however my greeting was met with silence. Her eyes darted across the display, she fiddled with the buttons, then turned to the textual content field to sort. “Are you able to hear me?” the world champion wrote. I shook my head. She smiled and, sussing out the issue, took out her AirPods. The audio linked. “Okay good,” she stated. My nerves disappeared.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Final summer season, Kopecky’s stardom ballooned when she gained the opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and held the yellow jersey for six days. She went on to complete second general, behind her team-mate Demi Vollering. Through the race, although, one thing else caught my eye: Kopecky launched her personal clothes line, referred to as ‘LoKo’.
The model title, it turned out, was a intelligent little bit of world play – a mash-up of her first and final names, and a nod to the Spanish phrase for loopy. I requested her about it. “Individuals who know me know I’m generally a bit loco,” she advised me. It’s a facet to the world champion, recognized for her ruthlessness on the bike, that almost all biking followers gained’t have seen.
The function I wrote is titled ‘Going Loko’, and explores Kopecky’s free-spirited nature. Sure, she’s a serial winner of motorbike races, however she’s additionally a thrill-seeker, utilizing her time without work in Dubai to skydive, and becoming a member of a gaggle of merry males on a beer bike in Gent.
We spoke concerning the significance of getting enjoyable, her influence on the following era, and the way dealing with fame has affected her life. “I used to have extra issues with it,” she stated. “Perhaps earlier than Covid, individuals had some expectations. I used to be rider, however not the highest rider, and so they wished me to win however I used to be not capable of but.”
Now, the 28-year-old wins at will, her exploits vaunted throughout the media. “Each week, you’re within the newspaper, or your head is on the TV,” she stated. This week, is not any totally different. Kopecky is our cowl star.
To learn the interview, you should purchase a replica of this week’s Biking Weekly in retailer for £3.25, or on-line for £4.50, together with supply. It’s a particular difficulty for Worldwide Girls’s Day, and one we’re very pleased with. Throughout the pages, you may additionally discover an exploration of the physiological variations between women and men, and the story of 1 inspiring lady’s journey from novice extremely endurance rider.
