{"id":380955,"date":"2025-12-30T18:48:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T18:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/380955\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T18:48:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T18:48:08","slug":"someone-i-can-rely-on-there-are-butterflies-in-my-stomach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/380955\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cSomeone I can rely on\u2026 there are butterflies in my stomach\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nSpeaking to Sporza<\/a>, Kopecky made clear that this was not about secrecy or spectacle, but about balance. \u201cSomeone I can rely on\u2026 there are butterflies in my stomach,\u201d she said.Stability over spectacle<\/p>\n

For Kopecky, the relationship is not framed as a distraction or a fairytale. Instead, she consistently returns to the same idea: stability matters more than romance when it comes to performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing in love is very nice, but above all stability improves your performances,\u201d Kopecky told Sporza. \u201cThere is someone I can rely on and who also shares the difficult moments. That is more important than being in love.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a revealing insight from a rider whose career has been defined by control, consistency and an ability to deliver on the biggest stages. Rather than presenting love as an emotional spark, Kopecky places it alongside preparation, recovery and mental balance as part of elite performance.<\/p>\n

\"LotteKopecky\"\/<\/p>\n

Kopecky is a two-time women’s road race world champion<\/p>\n

A relationship rooted in cycling<\/p>\n

Axel Merckx is not an outsider to Kopecky\u2019s world. As the son of Eddy Merckx and a long-time team manager at Hagens Berman Jayco, he has spent decades inside the professional peloton.<\/p>\n

According to Dag Allemaal, the pair were increasingly seen together over the past year, including at major cycling events, with their relationship known within the sport before becoming public.<\/p>\n

Kopecky has said they never planned an official announcement. \u201cWe said we were not going to post anything on Instagram about it,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we go everywhere together and are seen together. We have no problem if people talk to us about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love, balance and performance<\/p>\n

Asked whether the relationship could influence her racing, Kopecky resisted easy conclusions. \u201cWhether it will benefit my performances? Good question,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are butterflies in my stomach, although I have not raced much with them yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comment reflects her wider approach. Happiness alone does not guarantee success, but stability creates the conditions to sustain it, especially through the difficult moments of a long season.<\/p>\n

For Kopecky, the story is not about legacy or celebrity. It is about entering a phase of her career where balance, support and consistency matter as much as ambition. The fact that it involves one of cycling\u2019s most recognisable names is secondary to the reality she describes in her own words.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Speaking to Sporza, Kopecky made clear that this was not about secrecy or spectacle, but about balance.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,191678,784,28545,22237,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-380955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-axel-merckx","11":"tag-cycling","12":"tag-eddy-merckx","13":"tag-lotte-kopecky","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}