Knee Fracture Ends Justine Ghekiere's Season and Derails Belgium's World Championship Plans

The worst kind of déjà vu just hit the Belgian national team. Two weeks before the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montréal, climbing specialist Justine Ghekiere has been ruled out with a fractured kneecap, ending her season and blowing a massive hole in Lotte Kopecky's title defense.[1]

Ghekiere went down hard on Thursday during the 115.8-kilometer opening stage of the Faun Tour Femmes, crashing on the route from Guilherand-Granges to Boffres. In classic gritty fashion, the 30-year-old remounted and actually finished the stage, crossing the line roughly six minutes behind the leaders.[1][4]

But the adrenaline eventually wore off. Discomfort forced her to pull out before Friday's Stage 2, and subsequent medical checks back in Belgium confirmed the damage: a small, non-displaced fracture of the patella.[1][2]

"Her focus will now fully shift towards her recovery," AG Insurance-Soudal confirmed in a statement on Saturday, officially drawing the curtain on her 2026 campaign. For the trade team, it's a bitter pill. For the Belgian national squad, it's a tactical disaster.[2]

The Montréal World Championship circuit is an absolute leg-breaker. It packs 2,500 meters of elevation gain across 180 kilometers, featuring repeated, punishing laps over Mount Royal. That is not a course for pure sprinters; it's a course of attrition where numbers matter.[1]

Ghekiere—who won the mountain classifications at both the Tour de France Femmes and Giro d'Italia Women in 2024—was the designated engine to keep Kopecky protected deep into the race. Without her, Belgium loses its best weapon to neutralize attacks on the climbs and control the pace for their leader.[1][5]

The heartbreak here is compounded by history. This is the second straight year Ghekiere has lost a World Championship start to a late-season crash. Last September, she was forced to abandon the Rwanda Worlds after a 60kph crash at the GP Stuttgart left her with severe abrasions and bruised ribs.[1][3]

Her last Worlds appearance remains the 2024 race in Zürich, where she finished seventh and played a pivotal role in Kopecky's victory. Belgium had already announced their six-rider squad for Montréal, featuring Kopecky, Shari Bossuyt, Lotte Claes, Julie Van De Velde, Margot Vanpachtenbeke, and Ghekiere.[1][5]

Replacing a rider of Ghekiere's caliber on short notice is a tall order for Belgian cycling officials. The team needs someone who can survive the sustained climbing of Mount Royal to prevent Kopecky from being isolated against climbing-heavy rival squads.[1]

As for Ghekiere, the timeline for her return to the bike remains unwritten. The team has not provided a specific return date, emphasizing that the priority is a smooth and controlled rehabilitation. She joins a growing list of late-season casualties in the women's peloton, leaving the sport without one of its premier climbers for the autumn classics.[2]