Lotte Kopecký has outdone Eddy Merckx, Tom Bohnen, and Wout Van Art. This is a feat accomplished by Philippe Gilbert in 2017 and Stein Devolder in 2008, which sent the cycling-mad nation into a frenzy.

The 27-year-old Kopecky, speaking at her new SD Worx team training camp, downplayed the impact it has had on her career.

"It really made last season special. Winning this race wearing this national kit and then losing this jersey made me realize how important it actually was to run in this national jersey."

Although no longer the Belgian champion after losing the title to Kim de Baart last year, Kopecký will be aiming for another Tour de Flanders this year. Paris-Roubaix is another important race, but she is afraid to give it too much importance.

"I dream of winning Paris-Roubaix, but it is very difficult to set my sights on this race. I want to do well between the Tour de Flanders and the Amstel Gold Race." If I can do well in Flanders, I will do well in Paris-Roubaix, and I have a lot of chances in Amstel."

His victory in the Tour de Flanders was spectacular, but it also made Kopecky a star of the classics. But that was not the only special moment of 2022. It was her victory at Strade Bianche the previous month that turned her into a Classic champion, she says.

It's a status that has gained her more attention in her home country, but has greater significance for women's cycling, which lags far behind men's cycling than some other countries.

"It was a very big event in Belgium. It was a very big event in Belgium.

"It's really important for Belgium because we have a lot more fans with this win and women's cycling is really growing. [If it was just countries like the Netherlands or Italy that won big races, it wouldn't be very popular in Belgium. As a Belgian, winning a race like Flanders would have a very big impact on [women's cycling's] popularity in Belgium."

Kopecky has already gained a fair amount of fame, having been a four-time world champion on the track and narrowly missing out on a medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

"In the beginning, it wasn't so easy. But now I know a little bit how to deal with it, and I know how to turn off the button of being a little bit famous in Belgium. I just want to focus on what I'm doing. I'm riding my bike and trying to win races.

More importantly, Kopecký hopes to be an inspiration to the next generation of Belgian riders. While neighboring Netherlands has come to dominate both road and cyclo-cross, women's cycling in Belgium has been slow to grow, with Soudal-Quickstep manager Patrick Lefebvre commenting that in 2021 they will not run a women's team because they are not a welfare organization and was criticized for stating that Belgium "does not have enough good riders."

Kopecký sees progress, but admits that Belgium's top level may still be years away. He said, "I can see the young players coming up and I just hope they keep progressing like they are. In a few years we will have a very strong national team, but I think it will take years, and it's not something that will happen next year."

Her Tour of Flanders win was even better known because the organizers, the Flanders Classic, positioned the women's finish after the men's finish.

"It is important not only for the Belgian cycling community, but also for Belgium to have very good athletes and for the girls to be able to look up to you. I think this already contributes to a lot of girls and hopefully more in the future.

"I think that by riding, getting good results, and inspiring young athletes and young girls, they will be motivated and try to reach a good level."

SD Walkes signed with Kopecky from Liv Racing in 2022 because she was seen as the successor to Jolien Doll, who retired in 2021. This year they signed sprint winner Lorena Wiebes, which could be seen as a potential rivalry, but Kopecky does not see the Dutch rider as a rival within the team. She says that having Wiebes on the team gives her a freer role in the races and the chance to be more aggressive.

"When we are together, we are not the kind of riders who have to wait until the sprint. It gives me more chances to attack and that's what I like most about racing."

The pressure of leading Liv's team has given Kopecký the ability to race as aggressively as he showed in Strade Bianche, now that he is part of a team as powerful as SD Walks.

"One of the best things about being on this team last year," she says, "is that we have more guys who can win races and finish in every way possible. Even if the attack doesn't go well, "Lorena is there to help."

"As long as we win as a team, I think the team is happy. It will be less stressful and more relaxed about the race."

"I think the team will be happy as long as we win as a team,"

Kopevich said.

In addition to the Classics, Kopecky will also have a chance to time both the track and road races at the first UCI World Championships in Glasgow in August. The former is especially important to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, while the road rainbow jersey is also a realistic goal.

Kopecky is still reeling from the World Championships in Wollongong, where he almost caught Annemiek Van Fruten in a sprint for second place.

"I'm still disappointed. If I could have gotten one more step closer to the finish ...... would have made me even more determined to challenge for another higher ranking this year. To be world champion on the road is my dream. I know what it's like to be world champion on the track, but to be world champion on the road is also a very big goal."

Speaking of track, Kopecky is also juggling a limited board campaign this season, with the European Championships in early February, the Canadian Nations Cup immediately following the Spring Classics, and the Track World Championships just before the women's road race in August.

"Together with the federation and SD Worx, we tried to find a balanced program for that. It doesn't take a lot of energy, but it will get us enough points to reach our qualifying goals."

Kopecký's schedule will have to be carefully considered this year, as the Tour de France Femme ends just before the World Cup.

"I am still trying to figure out what is best, whether to do the Giro (Donne in July), the Tour, and the World Championships, or just the Giro or just the Tour. At the moment I try to concentrate mainly on the classics.

Kopecky hopes to qualify for Paris with Shari Bossuite, who substituted after Dufour retired, and to avenge the devastating Madison in Tokyo, where she and Dufour crashed and were eliminated from the medal race. She is also looking for a chance to improve on her fourth-place finish in the road race

. The Tokyo Olympics made me realize that this combination is really possible. I was in very good shape and could have finished fourth in the road race, and my legs on the track were very promising. But bad luck struck and of course it turned out differently. But my goal is to combine both road and track racing at the Olympics in Paris."