Former world champion Lotte Kopecky has spoken out about the persistent taboo she feels around menstruation in professional cycling, and she’s urging more open conversations about its effect on performance.
“I used to suffer from it a lot, too – my body retained a lot of fluid. If that comes back every month and coincides with an important goal, you have a problem,” the SD Worx leader said on the Café Koers podcast.
“You have to learn to understand your body. My advice is: don’t be afraid to ask for help.”
Kopecky explained that the taboo surrounding the topic makes it harder for cyclists to recognise and address how it impacts their performance.
2023 Ronde Van Vlaanderen, Lotte Kopecky (credit: Zac WiLLIAMS SWpix.com)
“Especially when the coach is male, there’s still some embarrassment around talking about it. But as a male coach, you have to immerse yourself in it if you train women. It shouldn’t be taboo. It’s part of the job.
“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. But many women have complaints during that period that can hinder performance.
“It shouldn’t be a taboo. It belongs in the sport”.
This discussion comes after EF Education-Oatly rider Veronica Ewers announced she will step away from elite cycling in 2026 to recover from RED-S, following a long battle with eating disorders.
RED-S, or relative energy deficiency in sport, is a condition caused by inadequate energy intake that affects hormone function, bone health and athletic performance.
Veronica Ewers, 2022 Tour de France Femmes (credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
In the brutally honest blog post on her Substack, she wrote: “I’ve not had my period since 2014. My bones are weak. My gastrointestinal function is shit.”
“Trying to perform, which I physically couldn’t do until my hormones recover (stabilise), while trying to recover, which I couldn’t do until I stop trying to perform at the top level, was like beating my head against the wall.
“I sat down with my dietician to go over the results and was devastated. I was confronted with two options: keep doing what I’ve been doing or focus on full recovery and then performance.
There have been more open conversations surrounding menstruation in the sport recently. At the Tour de France Femmes this year, Kim Le Court revealed that she won a stage of cycling’s biggest race while on her period.
Kim Le Court wins stage 5, 2025 Tour de France Femmes (credit: ASO/Charly Lopez)
At the finish in Guéret she said: “It’s that time of the month for me, and my body is more tired than usual. That’s what we women have to go through.”
Dutch journalist and former pro Marijn de Vries has also noted changes in attitudes in the sport, explaining that when she was racing, “it was crucial that you didn’t menstruate.”
“You were so thin that it wouldn’t start,” she said. “Now it’s the opposite, and it’s encouraged.”
“They just want you to menstruate, because that’s a sign of health,” Le Court’s Belgian teammate Justine Ghekiere added. “We also have specific meetings about this topic with the team. It’s discussed openly.”