Interview Suzanne Verhoeven (EN)

 Interview Suzanne Verhoeven

Suzanne Verhoeven turns 25 years old this year, but despite that she already showed some great things on the national & international level. She became Belgian cyclocross champion of the club teams, took part at the worldchampionships, made it to the World Cup. The rider of the Vondemolen - De Ceuster CX team loves riding and running through the sand and comes closer & closer to the top riders on her kind of tracks. How does she look back at the past season and what does she expect of the next one?

This year you took part at your first Worldchampionship. Which feelings did you have about your first participation?

First of all, a very exciting feeling. My very first Worlds as an elite rider and that in my home country. I had the feeling that I finally got recognition for all of the effort of the past years and that felt good. I wanted to prove that I was worthy to be in the selection and not that I just received it because it was in my home country. That went very well.

You took 2 victories in Sweden and also finished on the podium in Poland and the Czech Republic. Did you enjoy it to sometimes to catch some fresh air in races outside of the Benelux?

I invest already a few years to race abroad to gain UCI-points. But I never made it to the top 50 of the UCI-ranking. Every time I was missing out by only few points and I was very close for years. I wasn't allowed to take part in the World Cups so I was forced a bit to go abroad for UCI points. This year I finally managed to secure my spot for the World Cup and if you can take part them then it's easier to stay in the top 50. Apart from that racing abroad is very nice as well. The atmosphere is always good and the circuits are often very nice too. You can compete against girls that you don't know and race for podiums and victories. If I would spend the whole season in Belgium, then I would always race for a spot between the 10^th and 20^th place. Competing for the victories is completely different. You will race differently and you can go a bit deeper for that victory.

How do you evaluate your season yourself?

I rode a very beautiful season and I set a step forward. Unfortunately it's less remarkable this year because due to corona, the races were limited and many foreign riders came to Belgium for racing. This made that every weekend had World Cup level and it became harder to ride for a good result. In Tabor I crashed within the start and I crashed on my chin. This needed surgery in the hospital. I also got a concussion because of this. After this I got a worse period for a month. I recovered very slowly from this and couldn't catch the good feeling again. This was a disappointment for me and a difficult period for me. But fortunatly I came back in form again o nthe right moment for the nationals and the worlds. On the nationals I made a decent performance and the week after I also had a good race in Mol. After that I also assured my spot at the worlds. The Worlds were the cherry on the pie. I had my best race of the season and competed the whole race for the 15^th spot. I lose some positions and in the end I finished on the 19^th place in the results and miraculously I was the 3th Belgian in the final results.

Ellen Van Loy joins your team Vondemolen – De Ceuster next season. Are you looking forward to cooperate with her?

I'm looking forward a lot to cooperate with Ellen. She's really an added value to the team. I'm in contrast to other riders in the team already a bit older and I have more exerience. Despite that, I think I can still learn a lot from Ellen. I'm looking forward to explore the parcours with and to look out for the good tracks and to share our insights to each other. Ellen is very strong and by training with her, I think she can bring me to a higher level.

 

What are your ambitions for next season?

I want to be ready for it next season. I'm almost 25 years old and that is the age to get everything out of it to become on my best level. I'm a latebloomer but I feel that I still can get more out of it and I want to show that next season. I would like to become an usual suspect for the top 10. The nationals are next season comparable with the worlds in Ostend with a lot of sand. This is one of my strenghts and because of that I even dare to dream about reaching the podium there. Making it to the Euros and Worlds are also goals for the next season.

How do you prepare in the next months?

I'm working this Summer with a coach for the first time. I'm training already since August last year with Tim Aert, coach of Toon and Thijs. But this was actually too late to already take profit from it in the cyclocross season. There, I really have to work together with him in the Summer. I've noticed that he already made me stronger in the Winter, but this Summer I will prepare completely different then I'm used to and much more specificly. I'm sure that I will become stronger by this and I can set a very big step. I will also ride some road races and MTB marathons if they can go on despite the corona pandemic.

 

How did corona influence you as an athlete?

It didn't have a big impact on me. Fortunately, I never tested positive and I didn't suffer from it. Further, it's sad that we almost didn't have any races last summer to prepare for the cyclocross season. I hope that it will be differently this Summer because I also enjoy road racing as well.

What are your favourite tracks?

Like I mentioned before, I really enjoy sand. I can both ride and run good through the sand. I don't know why but it just suits me. Further, I also enjoy races with a lot of climbing, with my light weight it also goes very well for me. Laps mainly on power and pedaling through the mud, do I enjoy less, here I still need to make progress.