-Your not so typical analysis of the Belgian team going to the World Championships in Zürich-
Picture by Bjorn Asselman - Lotte Kopecky before the start of GP Bolle Oetingen 2024
Once upon a time, there were 4 national coaches sitting in a room surrounded by cycling journalists, ready to announce their selections for the World Championships in Zürich.
In the press conference room, the national women's coaches could leave immediately after announcing their selection without having to answer extra questions, while the men's coaches got loads of them.
Resulting in another worlds selection we won't get a proper analysis for.
It's time for some change! So welcome to my new blog post and my first analysis! Today I'll analyze the Belgian team for Zürich. Not your typical one, because you can read those everywhere which gets quite boring, when they are always the same. ;-) "With Lotte Kopecky we have a world-class rider who can do everything, and together with Demi Vollering she's seen as the top favorite to claim the world title."
Now that we had that, it is time to start the actual analysis.
The positives:
One for all, all for one!
With Lotte Kopecky being a Belgian, the roles in the team were already clear before the selection was made. One for all, all for Lotte! As we have seen before with other countries like the Netherlands, it can come in very handy to just have one leader, no double agendas, no drama in the team, but instead you get a real team that would go through fire for each other.
Queen of the Mountains → Queen of the Super Domestiques
You know, or you don't, that the parcours in Zürich is made for climbers, so who is possibly better to be a super domestique than The Queen of the Mountains at the Tour de France Femmes? I can't name that many others, apart from Justine Ghekiere.
Ghekiere has proven to be a real team player; in championships, she is always that little percent better than you'd expect her to be. Following Demi Vollering up the Butte de Montmartre at the Olympics? No problem!
Ghekiere will play a crucial role in the possible world title of Lotte Kopecky, she will be essential in controlling the finale.
The newbies
With Lotte Claes, Margot Vanpachtebeke and Lore De Schepper, we have three debutants at the Elite category on the world championships. The three of them have proven to be very strong riders.
Lotte Claes rode a great TDFF, resulting in a strong 16th place overall. The ex-duathlete said before she would love to go to the world championships to support one of the best riders of the moment. A lack of motivation certainly won't be the problem!
Margot Vanpachtebeke came into the spotlight when she got seventh in the Brabantse Pijl in 2023. The most shocking part about that performance was that she wasn't even a full-time cyclist then, she still combined a job in the hospital as a physiotherapist with her cycling career. Sadly, the breakthrough was postponed for a season because of multiple injuries.
Starting this year, it's finally her time to shine. With her highlights of the season being a stage and GC win in LOTTO Thüringen Ladies Tour, winning the Giro Toscana and becoming an Olympian, she showed she's one of those riders to look out for the coming years.
Lore De Schepper succeeded in showing her potential multiple times already. From following the best in the mountains at the Giro women and Tour de Suisse to winning the prologue of the Tour de l'avenir!
We don't know how they will perform at the world championships yet, but I'm confident the three of them will be able to support Lotte Kopecky a long way into the race!
Instagram Lotte Claes - picture of Claes when she took the bronze medal at the world championships duathlon 2023 (long distance)
The powerhouses
When you say Belgian powerhouse, who do you immediately think of? For me, that's Julie Van De Velde; the way she controlled the breakaway at the Olympics almost on her own or made the gap big enough for Justine Ghekiere to win a TDFF stage are just one of the few examples of her being the domestique you want in your team. A dedicated and strong rider for the beginning and the middle of the race who won't say no to leading the peloton in the early kilometers.
The others I need to add to the list are Julie De Wilde and Valerie Demey.
They are both very decent riders, but they don't really find a parcours that's made for them in Zürich. So if you take that into account, it's logical that they will mainly be seen at the beginning of the race and will have to make sure Lotte Kopecky gets as fresh as possible into the final.
Picture by Bjorn Asselman - Julie Van De Velde before the start of the Belgian road championships 2024
The negatives
Two for the Price of One
At the World Championships, we still have two races for the price of one. Luckily, that will finally change next year. The U23 riders will have to ride with the elite, but they will receive their medals after the race. The first finisher under the age of 23 will become a world champion this way.
Belgium has two U23 riders at the start, one of whom could have a chance of a podium finish. To be clear, I am talking about Lore De Schepper. Even if she has a small chance of winning a medal, I think it's wiser to ignore that and concentrate fully on the elite race. We do not have a super-strong team like Italy or the Netherlands, so it will be very important to make full use of all the riders we have.
Off days or injuries are a disaster
This team is looking pretty good, for sure, if you would compare this selection with one from 5 years ago, for example. The problem here is that other than these, there aren't really many other options, at least not riders with the same climbing qualities. We really need to hope this selection stays as it is. Last-minute changes caused by an illness/injury or an unexpected off-day could really have a big impact on the race.
Picture by Bjorn Asselman - Podium of the Belgian road championships 2024 (from left to right: Sanne Cant, Lotte Kopecky, Justine Ghekiere)
Final Conclusion
If I take everything into account, I would say this is a very good and balanced selection for Belgium. Of course, it's not something like Italy, the Netherlands or even France, but they will be able to support Lotte Kopecky in a great way.
And now the countdown can really start... So if you want to check if I'm right, or want to find out who will wear the rainbow jersey starting the 28th of September, prepare your snacks and get ready for a full day of watching cycling! See you in front of your TV on September 28th ? ;-)
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See you in the next blog post? <3
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