World road race champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) has issued a rare, clear call for change on how professional cycling treats menstruation, arguing that riders’ concerns are still too often dismissed or mocked.
Speaking on Het Nieuwsblad’s Café Koers podcast, Kopecky said that many women in the peloton struggle more than outsiders realise when they race on their period.
“A lot of riders have testified this season that it brings more discomfort than the outside world realises. When you say that, people still often laugh it off.”
She added that discussing the issue is particularly difficult when staff are male. “Especially if the coach is a man, there is some embarrassment about talking about it,” Kopecky said. She also described her own problems with fluid retention around her period earlier in her career, noting how it affected how she felt and performed on the bike.
Kopecky urged riders to seek medical and nutritional support rather than suffer in silence. “My advice is: do not be afraid to ask for help,” she said.
Her intervention comes in the same week that Veronica Ewers (EF Education-Oatly) announced she is stepping away from elite racing to address a hormonal imbalance, an episode linked to ongoing concerns about Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport. As we reported in our coverage of Ewers' split, long-term health has been placed above racing.
Kopecky’s words also echo earlier advocacy from Tour de France Femmes winner Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime), and add weight to calls for better coach education, open conversation and formal team policies around menstrual health in a rapidly professionalising women’s peloton.
