Training period in Switzerland

A look back and ahead

Almost a month after the Olympic road race, it has only really dawned on me: ‘I was at the Olympic Games as an athlete to representing my country’. Only now do I realize how beautiful participating in the largest and most important sporting event in the world was in itself. And now, after returning home and already a few weeks later, I really realized how many people around me I could make proud with this. This makes me happy and grateful!

Milestones

In the past 4 weeks after the Olympics I have taken the time to relax, physically, but also mentally. It was a long first half of the season with a lot of new experiences and milestones. Among other things, I started the season with a new team, with new teammates and staff. This gave me a lot of new fresh energy. Furthermore, I went on an altitude training course with Anna in the Sierra Nevada (ESP) for the first time and later even a second time with more teammates in Tignes (FRA). Furthermore, I was able to fulfill many beautiful goals and dreams in this first half of the season, including my first World Tour victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and later even a second one with winning La Course by le Tour de France. In my second participation in the Giro Donne, I finished third on the podium in the general classification and the icing on the cake was the selection for the Olympic Games. What an experience and how time flies.

Algarve, Portugal

After this busy period I was really ready for some quality time with my boyfriend and especially some rest. By rest I really meant this time: REST! So we booked a flight to the Algarve in Portugal. For five days we stayed in a beautiful house by the sea with a lovely roof terrace. I started my day like every day, with fifteen minutes of yoga, in the sun on the roof terrace. Sometimes we ran a few times afterwards in the morning, over the beautiful rocky trails along the coast. I also ate a lot and lay on the beach. I was able to enjoy this very much, not even thinking about cycling for a while and fully charging the battery again. This was a bit more difficult in the last two days, because I started to feel an urge for the bike and my upcoming goals.

Training in Switzerland

After our holiday in Portugal, the destination was Switzerland. A good period of training in the mountains and hills started again. The first 4 days I had a fairly loose training schedule, which mainly consisted of endurance training. We did beautiful endurance trainings through the hills in Basel-Land, towards the Jura and in the Black Forest. After that, my serious training schedule started again, in which I was again faced with big efforts. Those first efforts are always a bit of a bite. But with a charged battery it quickly felt good again. In the weekend, when Jan was also free, we went ‘grilling’ in the mountains after cycling and enjoyed nature. On these evenings I really missed our dog Flo, who was not there this time. Furthermore, it was perfect (mentally) resting and enjoying the beautiful nature in Switzerland.

Looking ahead

Now, almost at the end of this training period in Switzerland, I look forward to the period of competitions to come. I’m really looking forward to starting the Simac Ladies Tour, a World Tour race in my own country. I also definitely think that this is a race with a diverse course and challenging stages, including a very short prologue and a somewhat longer time trial. As it looks now, we can also expect spectators/fans, which I am of course very much looking forward to, especially in my home country. I’m not going to look further than the Simac Ladies Tour yet, but of course I secretly have an upcoming European Championship and World Championship in mind.

For now, lots of love from Switzerland (still) and hopefully see you soon at a race! Stay healthy and move!

Demi