Lotte Kopecky sustains vertebral fracture in Tour Féminin de l'Ardeche crash
After winning the opening stage of the Tour Féminin de l'Ardeche and wearing the leader's jersey into the third stage (the second stage was cancelled due to the protests in France), Lotte Kopecky crashed during the third stage and was forced to abandon the French stage race. Initially, SD Worx-Protime believed her injuries only minor; however, the team announced over the weekend that the world champion sustained a vertebral fracture in the crash, thus ending her 2025 road season.
Kopecky left the Giro d'Italia early due to back pain and, although she had planned to race for yellow at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, ended up riding in support of Lorena Wiebes and Anna van der Breggen. The Belgian ITT champion already announced she will not defend her rainbow jersey in Rwanda later in September, but had planned to race the Track World Championships in Brazil in late October.
"Initial examinations at a French hospital revealed no broken bones," SD Worx-Protime said in a team statement. "However, due to persistent pain, Lotte travelled home this morning to have further tests done in Belgium. It is unclear what this means for the rest of the 2025 season."
