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Paris-Roubaix: 'This part is really bad, everything is shaking' - Lotte Kopecky opens up on 'Hell of the North' chaos ahead of title defence
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Published 10/04/2025 at 10:50 GMT+1
SD Worx-Protime rider Lotte Kopecky is going into this year's Paris-Roubaix event as the reigning champion, and she is coming off the back of a triumph at the recent Tour of Flanders. The 29-year-old Belgian is one of the biggest names in women's cycling and believes that Paris-Roubaix is a unique event amongst the cobbled races. Speaking to TNT Sports, she recalled how she managed to win in 2024.
Paris-Roubaix Femmes highlights as Kopecky reigns supreme
Video credit: TNT Sports
SD Worx-Protime rider Lotte Kopecky is aiming to repeat last year’s "perfect" performance at Paris-Roubaix and is relishing the "special" cobbled event.
Kopecky is the reigning champion, and also won last year's Strade Bianche, the points classification at Giro d'Italia and a host of other stages and races. 2025 has started well already, and she can point to her Tour of Flanders win as a sign she is in good form.
Speaking to TNT Sports, the 29-year-old Belgian described the unique situation that comes with riding the gruelling event.
She explained: "It’s really special to go to every cobble sector, and you really feel the adrenaline, because you know if you’re in a bad position your race can be over. You need to have a lot of luck that your bike holds it the whole day.
"You need to have power on the cobbles. You need to ride as economically as possible. You need to have a nice shot at the end. You need to be smart. It’s not only being strong, but more than that."
Despite her success in cobbled events, Kopecky claimed that she does not like the training involved, but when it comes to Paris-Roubaix, she is keen to get to the starting line.
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Kopecky times sprint to perfection to secure first-ever Paris-Roubaix Femmes victory
Video credit: TNT Sports
"When I'm training, I don't enjoy riding cobbles. But when I do Paris-Roubaix, I really like it, and I'm really looking forward to it as well," she added.
She did, however, concede that despite her enjoyment of the race, there is one particular part of the race that is a huge source of stress and concern, with the difficulty exacerbated by the contrast between the enthusiasm of the crowd and the exacting nature of the surface.
She said: "Le Carrefour de l'Arbre - the beginning is quite OK, but just before the corner to the left, this part is really bad, and I’m just hoping I don’t get a flat tyre or something.
"Everything is shaking, also a lot of fans on the side of the road. They’re cheering, there’s so much noise, but also you're suffering and there are cobbles and everything is shaking.
"I have no idea how to describe these moments, but it's something special."
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In 2024, Kopecky was the victor in a dramatic sprint in the velodrome finale, and she paid tribute to her team-mates, and celebrated the win as a target she had chased for a large part of her career.
"Last year, everything went perfectly," she began. "I still have the Allen key from last year for my handlebar. I said to the mechanic, I'm keeping this one, it's a memory, so it’s next to the stone [winner’s trophy]....
"It was, for me, really special, because it was really the goal that I was chasing for a long time already.
"I could really feel it meant a lot... I was so happy that we did it."
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