After 9 months clear of racing an extended stint off the motorcycle, American professional Veronica Ewers made a quiet however vital go back to racing final month, pinning on a bunch for the primary time after getting into restoration for RED-S and an consuming dysfunction.
Final June, after hitting what she now calls “rock bottom”, the EF Schooling-Oatly racer and her staff introduced that she would take the remainder of 2024 to concentrate on her psychological and bodily well being. Till just lately, she hadn’t raced since the United States Nationals final Would possibly.
Only a few months in the past, the possibility of the 30-year-old racing the early-season races or the spring Classics appeared a no-go – she best were given again at the motorcycle in November, and began coaching correctly in January. An preliminary go back date was once set for Would possibly, however the alternative to be on a place to begin once more got here up quicker.
“I was a bit disappointed at first, because I did think I was ready to race, and I said I’d really like to race sooner than May. At that point, in November or December of last year, they said ‘We understand, let’s take it week by week, month by month, see how things are’ and so I just worked with my coach, looking ahead and trying to progress as much as I could.
“With my time off and through my recovery, I really progressed a lot and better than maybe the team expected when it came to my mental health and physical health as well. So then, come our January camp, they gave me the opportunity to start racing in March, but then just before our most recent team camp in February, they said they wanted me to race Almeria.”
Neither Ewers nor her staff knew precisely how she would fare returning to the Eu peloton, however that first take a look at on the Clásica de Almeria in Spain was once certain.
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“I had a lot of anxiety going into the first race, just because I’ve not been in the bunch since May of last year, so I was quite nervous to be in the bunch,“ she explained.
“However I used to be pleasantly shocked with how I felt. I did not really feel as frightened and I did not really feel I used to be as skittish as I believed I’d be. I am at a spot mentally the place I am giving myself slightly bit extra grace thru races, so it is been truly just right, after which additionally simply being with the staff at races and in that atmosphere has been truly a laugh. I did pass over that.”
Ewers at the cobbles of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad final week (Symbol credit score: Getty Pictures)
Then, a week later, Ewers found herself a late addition to the team’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad squad – more of a baptism of fire for the small rider who had never ridden the Opening Weekend Classic before.
“The race was once on Saturday and I used to be instructed on Wednesday that I’d be doing it,” she recalled. “I used to be slightly frightened, as a result of I know Opening Weekend may be very chaotic and it is a large deal. To start with I used to be slightly dissatisfied that I used to be getting the last-minute name, as a result of it is this sort of chaotic race.
“But like I said, I was given a role, I didn’t necessarily fulfil that role but I was able to take it as a learning opportunity and be in the bunch again and really learn from my mistakes, because it is a race where you need to be extremely focused and be in the right place at the right time to conserve energy.
“I have by no means skilled Opening Weekend ahead of, so simply the ambience was once beautiful implausible. I would best observed it from afar the previous couple of years, so being on the station for signal on and whatnot – that was once a truly cool enjoy. Then in fact, going up the Muur with all of the other people round was once implausible.”
The road to recovery
Being able to ride up the Muur van Geraardsbergen in the WorldTour peloton is something that has only been possible for Ewers after a long, cautious recovery from a longstanding eating disorder.
RED-S, or relative energy deficiency in sport, is a condition that stems from hormone imbalances often caused by over-exercising or under-fueling. It’s a condition that can disproportionately affect endurance athletes, but for Ewers, a former footballer and athlete for most of her life, her difficult relationship with food and exercise predated her cycling career.
With her struggles not abating in 2024, eventually something snapped – Ewers hit her lowest point, but also the point that set her onto the path of recovery.
“In the long run, I had unhealthy behavior, I had an consuming dysfunction, which was once impacting my hormonal well being in addition to my efficiency,” she said. “I believe it is truly unlucky that such a lot of other people battle with this, and truly the one option to recuperate is to have some type of realisation second, a second the place your mind simply clicks and making a decision ‘I wish to alternate one thing and entirely decide to convalescing and bettering’.
“I don’t know what caused that click moment in my brain, but I was just so exhausted and mentally drained and sad and I just knew that things could be – should be – so much better than where I was.”
What that restoration has appeared like in follow was once a number of months off the motorcycle, little or no bodily task of any type – bar some lifting to mitigate the chance of osteoporosis from RED-S – and a large number of paintings on her psychological well being, all with the reinforce from her staff EF Schooling-Oatly.
“I was very lucky to have the team supporting me and giving me the opportunity to take the break. They could see that I was clearly struggling mentally and physically, so they gave me that opportunity, but I also sought out help from a therapist and a dietitian, both who specialised in eating disorders and RED-S recovery.
“I’m so lucky to have either one of them in my lifestyles, they usually additionally paintings with the staff physician and my trainer, so I had that reinforce staff with me all over the start of my restoration and up till now.
“Physically, as my hormonal health improved, I was able to start incorporating exercise more. I think October was when I got on the bike again, and I was doing eight hours [per week] to start, and then maybe November was the first time I got back into double digit hours. Then come January was really the start of when I was getting back into proper training.”
It was once best being clear of recreation that allowed Ewers to truly replicate on how ill she had grow to be.
“It was a good chunk of time off the bike, and a lot of time to just recover. I think it made me just recognise how deep into a hole I had put myself. I feel really lucky that I had that click moment, and that I had a team around me, both my cycling team and my support team, who gave me the opportunity and the help to climb out of that hole.”
Among the arduous paintings, Ewers additionally mirrored on all of the positives of a damage from being an athlete – attending to shuttle Europe, discovering small leisure pursuits and comforts, reconnecting with the speculation of ‘house’ after a nomadic way of life.
Chatting with Ewers, it is transparent that specializing in her happiness has been as a lot of a device to returning to racing as her bodily restoration.
A blank slate in 2025
What 2025 will appear to be for Ewers isn’t but positive. Two races in, the certain indicators are there. Her bodily and hormonal well being is way stepped forward, her psychological state is extra balanced, however there may be nonetheless so much Ewers does not learn about herself as a rider.
In all probability extra so than different disciplines, highway biking is a recreation the place weight and meals can grow to be very managed, and so the chance of falling into unhealthy behavior when returning to the game is at all times conceivable.
“I had struggled for over ten years at that point, so it started before I even got into cycling, but once I initially got into the cycling world, it did really heighten those issues,” Ewers defined.
“But going back, I have my support team around me, I have a lot of tools that I can use to cope with anything that comes up. I have been on antidepressants for a while now, and I’ve definitely seen the benefits of that, and I’m sure it’s that on top of properly fueling that has put me into a headspace that is much more relaxed.
“I surely have moments being within the biking global and with the staff which might be triggering and difficult to be round, however I’ve the folks in my lifestyles who I will be able to cross to when I’m having the ones tough moments.”
Ewers together with her teammates on the Clásica de Almeria (Symbol credit score: Getty Pictures)
Despite some possible triggers, though, belonging to a team is ultimately what drives Ewers, who has known little else as an athlete.
“I believe simply being with the staff once more,” was Ewers’ answer to what she’s most looking forward to this year. “I have been an athlete for many of my lifestyles, and I have been a part of a staff for that whole time. So being with my teammates and in that staff atmosphere is truly the place I in finding my sense of group and that is the reason a part of my identification.”
On an individual level, it’s clear that putting the pressure of results-based goals is not what Ewers needs right now. A break-out GC ride at the Tour de France in 2022 is what put her name on the map, but there’s no set expectation of what kind of rider she’ll be this year.
For the moment, she’s set to line up at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda. Ewers will make her debut at the Italian Women’s WorldTour race on March 16.
“I am truly excited to get again within the bunch and take this yr as a yr of discovery and spot the place I will cross and how much rider I may well be now and simply get started with a blank slate,” she stated.
“I wish to discover a position the place I believe extra assured in myself as a rider. As a result of I do know I’ve that doubtlessly someplace, and I wish to in finding that attainable this yr.
“Maybe that’s not results-wise, maybe it’s just finding the small wins a bit better within the races and going from there. I think that’s what I want this year – to have a glimpse into the potential that I have and really find the fun again in cycling.”
