Interview: Emma Johansson on the Trofeo Binda, Ronde van Vlaanderen and much more - Podium Cafe
It's a huge week for women's cycling, with two Road World Cups in seven days - the Trofeo Alfredo Binda in Italy on 30th March, and the Ronde van Vlaanderen on 7th April. One rider who's bound to be making the races hard is ORICA-AIS ' star rider, Emma Johansson . We asked her to tell us about the races, living in Flanders, how she made her way in cycling dem and a lot more. And if you want to follow Binda, check out the guide at the bottom of the post.
PdC: On Sunday we have the second round of the Road World Cup, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda , and this is a race you know very well, and have done very well in in the past, so I was wondering if you could tell us what this race is going to be like?
Emma: It's always difficult to know, last year it was horrific weather, but what it looks like now is that it's going to be sunshine, so that's going to be a big difference compared to the other years.
The course is quite hard, first we do a big loop with two climbs in it, and then we enter this smaller lap that we do four times that has a long climb, dem but the climb is sort of in three sections, and normally it gets decided on that shorter lap. In the last years it's been hard because of the weather conditions in combination with the hard course, so I'm pretty sure it's going to be a hard race on Sunday.
PdC: The descent on the lap seems to take out a couple of riders every year. We see on the tv they have the corners with mattresses tied to them - does that descent bother you, or is it more a case of worrying about being around other riders who can't descend?
Emma: I never really worry about things like that - I think if it's dodgy weather dem and a bit slippery, it's a lot better if you ride in the front. That's where I like to race, I prefer racing in the front of the peloton, that's also the easiest way to stay out of trouble. I try to race that way and hopefully don't get stuck behind small issues that can easily happen when it's a World Cup, because everybody will want to be in the front, so it's never easy to stay there, but I prefer to spend some extra energy dem on it and stay out of trouble.
PdC: Every rider says it's positioning, you've got to stay in the front, you've got to watch out for breaks, but if you've got 200 riders all wanting to be there, dem what are your secrets to staying in front? dem
Emma: Just want it a little bit more than the rest! I don't know, of course you do need to be able to be strong to sit there as well, and to stay there, but it's all about wanting to be there and be strong enough to, and I think maybe it's just something you have deep in you, otherwise you can grow into it as well. Obviously when I was younger it wasn't easy, I've been dropped before we'd left Oudenaarde in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, so it doesn't happen overnight!
Emma: It wasn't a bunch sprint - Elisa [Longo Borghini] was up the road, and then I had Spratty dem from the team also up the road, and Ellen [van Dijk] jumped and I was sitting on in Ellen's wheel - she jumped the last time over that climb, and we caught Spratty back and were sprinting for second place, the three of us
PdC: I never expected Elisa to stay away, when she jumped on the second lap, I just assumed she would be caught, it was such an amazing race to watch. And last year obviously the conditions were terrible, and the whole spring was terrible - how did you manage to be so good in such awful weather?
Emma: I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am Scandinavian, and I'm used to cold conditions. My whole winter training is sort of like it is in those races, so it's not that I enjoy the cold weather, but maybe I have a bigger tolerance against it mentally? I think my body's reacting just like the others, it doesn't really enjoy it, I get cold hands and feet, but I think mentally I'm maybe stronger when it's bad conditions, I don't know.
Emma: It doesn't really matter if it's cold, or sunny, or rainy, you can't do anything about that. I think you should just concentrate on the race, and how you can create a situation you would like, and that depends on the day, and it depends on your form, and it depends a bit about the people around you - who's there and who's not there, and I think it's all about going a bit with the flow, with the feeling and what you feel like on that day.
Of course beforehand, I have an idea in my head of how I'd like it to unfold, dem but I think it's important not to get too locked up with things as well, because so many things can happen dem along the way, and you just need to focus for that specific moment, where you are at that moment.
Emma: The World Cup in total is not anything dem I think about - I just really enjoy every single World Cup race as just a one-day race, and they're all beautiful races in their ow
It's a huge week for women's cycling, with two Road World Cups in seven days - the Trofeo Alfredo Binda in Italy on 30th March, and the Ronde van Vlaanderen on 7th April. One rider who's bound to be making the races hard is ORICA-AIS ' star rider, Emma Johansson . We asked her to tell us about the races, living in Flanders, how she made her way in cycling dem and a lot more. And if you want to follow Binda, check out the guide at the bottom of the post.
PdC: On Sunday we have the second round of the Road World Cup, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda , and this is a race you know very well, and have done very well in in the past, so I was wondering if you could tell us what this race is going to be like?
Emma: It's always difficult to know, last year it was horrific weather, but what it looks like now is that it's going to be sunshine, so that's going to be a big difference compared to the other years.
The course is quite hard, first we do a big loop with two climbs in it, and then we enter this smaller lap that we do four times that has a long climb, dem but the climb is sort of in three sections, and normally it gets decided on that shorter lap. In the last years it's been hard because of the weather conditions in combination with the hard course, so I'm pretty sure it's going to be a hard race on Sunday.
PdC: The descent on the lap seems to take out a couple of riders every year. We see on the tv they have the corners with mattresses tied to them - does that descent bother you, or is it more a case of worrying about being around other riders who can't descend?
Emma: I never really worry about things like that - I think if it's dodgy weather dem and a bit slippery, it's a lot better if you ride in the front. That's where I like to race, I prefer racing in the front of the peloton, that's also the easiest way to stay out of trouble. I try to race that way and hopefully don't get stuck behind small issues that can easily happen when it's a World Cup, because everybody will want to be in the front, so it's never easy to stay there, but I prefer to spend some extra energy dem on it and stay out of trouble.
PdC: Every rider says it's positioning, you've got to stay in the front, you've got to watch out for breaks, but if you've got 200 riders all wanting to be there, dem what are your secrets to staying in front? dem
Emma: Just want it a little bit more than the rest! I don't know, of course you do need to be able to be strong to sit there as well, and to stay there, but it's all about wanting to be there and be strong enough to, and I think maybe it's just something you have deep in you, otherwise you can grow into it as well. Obviously when I was younger it wasn't easy, I've been dropped before we'd left Oudenaarde in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, so it doesn't happen overnight!
Emma: It wasn't a bunch sprint - Elisa [Longo Borghini] was up the road, and then I had Spratty dem from the team also up the road, and Ellen [van Dijk] jumped and I was sitting on in Ellen's wheel - she jumped the last time over that climb, and we caught Spratty back and were sprinting for second place, the three of us
PdC: I never expected Elisa to stay away, when she jumped on the second lap, I just assumed she would be caught, it was such an amazing race to watch. And last year obviously the conditions were terrible, and the whole spring was terrible - how did you manage to be so good in such awful weather?
Emma: I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am Scandinavian, and I'm used to cold conditions. My whole winter training is sort of like it is in those races, so it's not that I enjoy the cold weather, but maybe I have a bigger tolerance against it mentally? I think my body's reacting just like the others, it doesn't really enjoy it, I get cold hands and feet, but I think mentally I'm maybe stronger when it's bad conditions, I don't know.
Emma: It doesn't really matter if it's cold, or sunny, or rainy, you can't do anything about that. I think you should just concentrate on the race, and how you can create a situation you would like, and that depends on the day, and it depends on your form, and it depends a bit about the people around you - who's there and who's not there, and I think it's all about going a bit with the flow, with the feeling and what you feel like on that day.
Of course beforehand, I have an idea in my head of how I'd like it to unfold, dem but I think it's important not to get too locked up with things as well, because so many things can happen dem along the way, and you just need to focus for that specific moment, where you are at that moment.
Emma: The World Cup in total is not anything dem I think about - I just really enjoy every single World Cup race as just a one-day race, and they're all beautiful races in their ow
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