Lotte Copecky (Team SD Worx) took second overall after finishing in the top six, excluding opening stage wins, Green Jersey and one stage, at this year's Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. So, will she line up in the 2024 version of the race as well?

The world champion of the road race was attending the Tour de France Femme Route Revere in Paris, but has doubts about her participation because of her proximity to the Olympics. The women's Tour de France from 8/12 to 18 will begin after the Paris Olympics, but the track competition at the National velodrome will end on 8/11. The women's road race in Paris is 8/4.

Kopecky has won 4 UCI Track Cycling World Championships with 6 gold medals, but the Olympic medals have so far been elusive, on track or on the road. Her best result was fourth place in the road race in Tokyo.

"It is not currently clear about joining the tour and I will only make that decision very slow. I have already discussed it with Danny Stam [SD Worx Sports Manager]," Kopecky told Het Nieuwsblad after the 8 stages were announced.

"We will focus on spring first and only then see if it is possible to get on the tour. Dropping omnium on the track is not an option anyway."

The Women's Omnium in Paris 2024 will end on Sunday 8/11 with a point race, the last of 4 events, and the Tour de France opening stage will head to the Hague on 8/12 on a flat 124km stage from Rotterdam. She is the Belgian women's omnium champion.

Even the race to Belgium is not certain to convince Kopecky to guarantee that he will stand on the starting line at the Grand department store in Rotterdam.

"When I look at the course, I absolutely want to ride. The fact that it passes through Belgium is also very nice. On the other hand, tours are held every year, and the Olympics are held only 4 times in 1 year. There are also very nice goals coming after the tour, so it's very unclear at the moment," Kopecky said.

"Switching from truck to road is not a problem in itself, and that's not my biggest fear. The tour itself was simply very tough, and after such an omnium you not only got very deep physically, but also mentally. That's what we have to look carefully after the classics.

Kopecky will, of course, want to show off her rainbow jersey on tour, and while it's strange to see the world champion absent from the calendar's biggest stage race, Kopecky is sure of the season's priorities. The tour does not come first.

"At the moment, the classic is more important to me than the tour," Kopecky told VTM Nieuws. "My dream is more in that area of spring. It is wise to focus on it first."

The iconic Alpe D'Huez Queen stage was also not exciting for Kopecky, as he laughed about the difficulties in the mixed zone. Given the Alpine double header that sees the race come to a climax, it is unlikely to repeat the podium even for the classic star.

"Last year we had a difficult stage in Tourmalet, but now we have two difficult stages in the end," Kopecky said.

"It's nice to ride all these iconic climbs, but it's really hard for me because I'm not really a climber," she laughs."If I'm going to ride a tour next year, surely I'll go for some reconnaissance and try to get to know the course and the climb better than the tourmalette.”