Lotte Kopecky becomes first Belgian to reach top of UCI women's road world ranking
Lotte Kopecky has climbed to the top of the International Cycling Union's (UCI) women's road world ranking, which was updated on Tuesday. The 28-year-old is the first Belgian ever to top the women's ranking.
With 5,095 points, world champion Kopecky is ahead of her Dutch SD Worx-Protime teammate Demi Vollering on 4,990.86 points. Lorena Wiebes of the Netherlands, another teammate, is in third place with 3,520 points.
Kopecky has had a successful spring, winning the UAE Tour, Strade Bianche, Nokere Koerse and Paris-Roubaix in February. Her second place in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, fourth in Dwars door Vlaanderen and fifth in the Tour of Flanders also earned her valuable points in the standings.
Giro and Olympics
This year's spring classics ended with Liège-Bastogne-Liège last weekend. Kopecky is currently training for the second half of the season and will return to competition at the Tour of Britain in June. She will then head to Italy for the Giro d'Italia in July, before heading to the Olympic Games in Paris, where she will compete in both road and track events.
The Tour de France is not on Kopecky's agenda this season. According to SD Worx-ProTime, the Olympics and the Tour de France, which starts immediately after the Olympic cycling events, are not physically or mentally compatible.
Belgium on top
Since the introduction of the current version in 2016, Wout Van Aert and Greg Van Avermaet have been the two Belgians to reach number 1 in the men's road world rankings. Tadej Pogacar, winner of Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège, has been number 1 since September 2021.
Belgium is by far the best performing country in the national rankings. It has been number one since April 2022 and has been number one for a total of 276 weeks, well ahead of runners-up France's 78 weeks.
#FlandersNewsService | Lotte Kopecky celebrates winning the fourth edition of the women elite race of the Paris-Roubaix Femmes cycling race © BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS