A long overdue update
It’s been a long time since my last post here. (I’m a bit more active on instagram and try to post relatively regular updates there.)
A few words about my season. At the beginning of the year I said that racing at the World Tour level would certainly take me out of my comfort zone. It turned out to be even more true than I had imagined.
Within the first half of the year I more than doubled my lifetime racing kilometers. It was an extremely enriching experience to take part in all these beautiful races - the Ardennes, the Vuelta, the Giro, to name just a few... I learned so much in every single race, I loved (/love-hated) the constant action and need to improvise (not really my strength!); it was great to race together as a team and learn from each other. There were many incredibly hard moments (inside and outside the races), but getting through these moments was rewarding in itself. Overall, it was a tough but extremely enriching and character-building experience.
However, from a performance point of view, I left many races feeling empty and frustrated. Frustrated by my lack of fitness and by stupid beginner’s mistakes. I just couldn’t get the results that were expected of me. My power was way below the level I had had in previous years and, no matter how hard I tried, it didn’t really improve. Falling ill at some untimely moments certainly didn’t help. I couldn’t get in a proper training block before the races that mattered. Perhaps the stress surrounding the races (bad sleep, fear of crashing, other issues) also took more out of me than I had thought. There were a few exceptions - e.g. the Nationals ITT (which I won) and the ITT at the Tour de Suisse (where I came 6th) were races I was satisfied with.
Personally, I’m absolutely okay with not being in top shape every year. However, it’s not only about my personal ambitions anymore now; as a pro rider, I also want to give back to my team and sponsors. This make the situation somewhat more complex.
At any rate, my love for sports and desire to perform are 100% intact and, combined with patience, I am sure that fitness and results will follow in due course :) . I’m currently experimenting with a somewhat lighter training program, let’s see how my body reacts… Perhaps less is more, especially after many years of pushing my body to the limit (combined with not eating enough).
My races for the remainder of the season are: Chrono Gatineau (ITT in Canada) on Sept. 15, European Championships ITT on Sept. 20, and Chrono des Nations on Oct. 15.
Big thanks to my team, sponsors, and to all other people who keep supporting me in many different ways! :)
