Belgian rider's popularity and ZijAanZ🅘ij 🃏campaign bolster junior women's cycling, says Cycling Vlaanderen
Lotte Kopecky wins Tour of Flanders 2023(Image credit: Getty Images)
168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lotte Kopecky's rise in professional cycling and success over the last three seasons has had a notable impact on the rise of junior women, U17 (15-16 years old) and U19 (17-18 years old), registering for a licence at the Cycling Vlaanderen fe൩deration.
According to Anne-Laure G🧜heerardyn, Women's Cycling Coordinator at Cycling Vlaanderen, the number of women who are 18 years old or younger has increased nearly four times the amount during the last three seasons, a total expected to rise again in 2023.
reporting 152 registrants at the end of 2019 and more th🐷an 600 at the end of 2022, with under-18 women continuing to register now and well into the summer months of 2023.
Gheerardyn also noted that, alongside Kopecky's popularity, Cycling Vlaanderen's campaign - Side-by-Side - has also had an impact on th𒊎e registration ꦰnumbers.
The campaign, #ZijAanZij, which has been around for three years, returned in🥃 2023 with three main pillars: inflow, club support and quality. The goal is to get more girls and junior women interested in cycling through clubs, guidance and follow-ups, as well as an extensive calendar of training sessions.
Participating in #ZijAanZij is completely free and is open to all girls from 5 to 18 years old. These are birth years 2005-2018,✱ according to Cycli𝐆ng Vlaanderen.
“꧅Our own ZIJ VAN ZIJ campaign will also have provided a stimulus, as will the increased media attention for women's cycling, but Lotte Kopecky's international breakthrough is certainly a driving factor. We can safely speak of a Kopecky effect,” Gheerardyn said, who also noted an increase of 14% in🐟 women over the age of 18 registering between 2021 and 2022.
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Lotte Kopecky solo at the Tour of Flanders (Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Multi-time Bel💖gian Champion Kopecky's trajectory in professional cycling has skyrocketed over the last three seasons. Since joining the🦩 Women's WorldTour with Liv Racing in 2021 before moving to SD Worx in 2022 through 2024, she has become one of the strongest women in the peloton, not only in road racing but also on the track.
Highlights include but are not limited to a stage win at the Giro d'Italia Donne and podiums at Gent-Wevelgem𝓡, Tour of Flanders and Brugge-De Panne in 2020. The next season, she won stages at Thüꦛ;ringen Ladies Tour and Challenge by la Vuelta and the overall title at Lotto Belgium Tour.
Last year she won Strade Bianche and Tour of Flanders while wearing the jersey of Belgian national champion andཧ then went on to take second at Paris-Roubaix and in the women's road race at the World Championships.
This year, she has been part of a dominant SD 𝔍Worx team, winning Omloop H𒀰et Nieuwsblad, Nokere Koerse and a second consecutive Tour of Flanders as well as finishing second at Amstel Gold Race.
The reigning World Champion in the Elimination Race and the Madison is on the hunt for points, which are important for her goals of competing on the track at the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Olympic Games in Paris next summer.
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has 🃏a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as🎶 a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycl♎ing – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
