Interview Eugenia Bujak

Champion of Poland, champion of Slovenia and in front during the last worldchampionships. Eugenia Bujak doens't only collect national jerseys. She also won classics. In 2016, she was the best rider in Plouay. At 31 years old, she's in the best years of her career. Let's look back together with her on her carreer so far and get to know her and her story.

 

 

Born in Lithuania, a former Polish champion and currently representing Slovenia. Would you describe yourself as a cycling nomad?

 

Yes I was born in Lithuania but I’m Polish and I’m still living in Poland. I was proud to represent Poland but some things happened. This is the reason why I decided to not represent Poland anymore. Slovenia in the last 7 years was like a second home for me. After a very difficult period, Slovenia helped me stand up and continue my cycling career. I’m very grateful for it. I found back my happiness! There are so many people that help me but a special thanks to Gorazd Penko, Maja Oven and my husband Miłosz.

 

You've been succesful on both the road as on the track. What do you like the most?

For the track racing I went just to find another possibility to improve. Because In that moment it was very difficult to find some good team being without results and no international racing. Beginning was hard, later I started to like track but I was always more road cyclist. So I decided to focus just on the road. 

 

You're a decent time trialist on the international level. How often do you train on your time trial bike?

Well, I wish to have one year to focus just on time trial. I can say that I’m almost not training for TT. I’m on the TT bike 15x per all year. I do sometimes a few trainings before some important race. This year I was training nothing for it. 

 

Slovenia had both the winner and the runner-up in the most recent Tour de France. Did you follow the race and were you proud about the result? 

 Yes I followed the race and I was proud of our guys ! They both deserve to win! 

 

You're in the middle of your carreer right now. What were your best memories and what are your goals for the coming years?  

I had a lot of beautiful memories, from the little results in national races when my coach was my husband Milosz to the international with a my first UCI team BTC City Ljubljana. For sure a very special memory was my victory in WWT race in Plouay. I achieved it after a very difficult time in my cycling career. To become European Track Champion was also a big result for me! 

 

You joined the breakaway on the worldchampion after a big solo chase and you even took iniative right after it. How did you experience the race? 

I knew that the race is too hard for me, those climbs were simply just too steep for me. I had in the plan to go in the break away but when it went I wasn’t in the right position in the group to join it. I was trying to join the break away earlier but the peloton didn’t let me. I expected the race to be very hard in the last two laps, so I wanted to go away before the favorites would attack. This is the reason of my long attack to join the break away and to be able to climb on my own tempo. 

 

Do you prefer stage races or one day races? 

One day race 

 

How did you start in cycling? 

Well, I didn’t have a bike when I was little. We didn’t have money for it. I went to a cycling club just because I wanted to join my friends from the village and have a fun together.

 

Thanks for the interview, Eugenia! 

 

 Interview Katarzyna Wilkos

The season was short but succesfull for Katarzyna Wilkos. She almost took the Polish jersey, sprinted among some of the best riders in the Ardèche and represented Poland on the worldchampionships in Imola. 'Kasia' is an excellent sprinter. She's fast at the finish and progressing fast as well. She's currently 27 years old so the best is yet to come. Let's have a quick chat with the book lover from South-Poland. 

 

 

You've been making progression every year and the best years are yet to come. How do you look at your career so far?

I’m happy with what I have achieved and I believe that the best years are still ahead of me. Cycling makes me more happy every year. In Poland, I have a great team that creates the best conditions for my development. It isn’t UCI group but every year we go to some really high class races. With this I have a chance to raise my sports level and show myself to the world, just like this year on the Ardèche.

In the Ardèche, you've sprinted to very good results among some of the best teams in the world. Do you have the ambition to ride for a World Tour team one day?

Of course. Such races where I'm fighting with the best, give me a lot of confidence. They give me a feeling that: “YES I CAN “Be among these girls and be a part of the WT team. This year was a difficult as regards of preparation and racing. Many good races have been canceled from my calendar. Ardeche was only one stage race this season so I really wanted to achieve a good result. And I succeeded. It may not be enough for the WT team, but the best years are still ahead of me!:)

You almost won the Polish jersey this year. Were you dissapointed or proud after your second place at the national championship?

Polish champion jersey is one of my dreams. In this year crossing the finish line I felt disappointed. It was so close. But every race teaches us something... I learned from this race and I know where I made a mistake. The national championship is every year and I will finally succeed. 

 

What are your ambitions in cycling?

Every year I want to be better and better and I think I do it. I know that I can afford to win these smaller races but also those of the UCI rank. I would like to racing in one of the best teams in the world and to be an important part of this team. Cycling is a team sport and that is what I love most about this sport. There’s never one person behind the victory.

Poland delivered some very good cyclists in both the men's and women's category. How do you explain this progression in comparing with the previous decades?  

 

Cycling in Poland is still developing. I think that the world is now more "open". It's easier to go abroad and look for your chance in different teams and many young athletes from Poland are more courageous to try it. In addition, the level of racing has gone up hard, races are much faster than a few years ago. Polish teams are looking for opportunities to compete in races of a higher rank than only those we have in Poland. It is building and gives the athletes an opportunity to try diffrent races. We know how much we miss and what we need to do to be better.  

 

Which races would you love to ride in the future? 

Generally, I feel best in selective races where a smaller group fights for the victory. I think I'm doing well in sprint and I would like to fight in such races. From the races that I have already been, I liked Internationale Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour, very much. I like stages race. Every day I have chance to improve my result. But in order to progress you need every race, sprinters, on the biggest mountains or in strong windy.  

 

How did you discover cycling yourself? 

When I went to elementary school my first coach came to school and encouraged students to cycle. I decided to try it, all my class was riding a bike, it was great fun, way to spend free time. I'm a person if I undertake something, firmly involved that is how it was in this case. I won my first race and with time I loved cycling. I have big support of my family, especially my brothers.

 

What are your biggest passions outside of cycling?

Cycling is my number one at the moment, but I love books, reading, having them ( just like that). In the future I would like to have my own home library and if I will so old that it's going to be hard to move I can work in the library :D:D

 

Thank you for the interview, Kasia!