Niamh had a massive start to 2020 with two UCI wins including a National Elite Road Race Title in Cambridge.

The prospects for the year looked bright, with a new home base in Gavirate, Italy and a contract with one of the best World Tour level teams – Bigla Katusha.

After a great start in Europe with team camp in Spain, things started to change very quickly with the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic.

We caught up with Niamh as she settles into lockdown life in Nelson to review her start to the 2020 season!

ESP: Standing on the podium next to your team mate in the ITT was a great start to Nationals weekend.  What were your thoughts on the TT course and how you rode?

NF: The course may have looked rather uninteresting on paper, for us women anyway, but at the end of the day a TT is only as hard as you make it for yourself. So I cracked on into the 20km time trial, strangely lively and not nervous at all. I guess I didn’t really put any pressure on myself for this one, rather I just wanted to give it a go. It was a bonus getting on the podium, and the close time gaps in the top 3 gave me a boost in confidence in my capabilities in the race against the clock. There’s things I would change and improve, as there always is. For one, next time I will try to avoid giving my dad, following, a heart attack as I bee lined off the sealed road into the ditch mid TT. But as I say, I wasn’t hard on myself for this one, I was content with my performance, and I know what I have to do next time. 

ESP: It was a huge result for you taking out the National Elite Road title.  You probably went into the race as an underdog but we knew you had the goods to deliver on the day.  How confident were you before the race, what was the team plan and how good was that win?

NF: Some days just go right. The whole day I felt like I was floating on the pedals, my bike moved beneath me and I went with it. 

Mikayla and I wanted an aggressive race, yet we wanted to keep it within the grips of our control, as a team of two. This panned out accordingly as the bunch stretched out throughout the initial circuit,   the pace paving way for a small break to escape up the road. I was not worried, I still saw the race as under control, as Mikayla and I worked, amongst a non-committal peloton, to maintain the pace so as to not let the escapees out too far. 

I put in an attack early on in the main Mangakawa climb, as I saw this as an opportunity to gain valuable time back on the lead riders who managed to pull out over 3 minutes on our toying peloton. A group of 4 of us was all that was left over the top of the climb, and considering the rolling parcours to come and no sight of riders behind, I judged this would stick to the finish, as with a lone rider out the front, the race was still ahead of us, there was no time for faffing. 

As I say, everything just felt right, I was pretty determined we would catch the breakaway although it would be close, as the time gaps were large. From there I knew I had to back my sprint and not look back, or at least that was what my gut told me. It all just seemed to unfold seamlessly in front of me, and it wasn’t until I could throw my hands in the air over the finish line that it dawned on me the significance of what I’d just done – nothing can quite match that feeling. 

ESP: Literally hours after your race you and Mikayla were both on a flight to Spain for the end of team camp with Bigla Katusha.  What was the atmosphere like amongst the group and what were your first impressions of what your team was capable of this year?

NF: For me, jetting off on a plane to Spain was the start of my beginning – my first year as a professional – something I have only dreamed of up till now. To say the least, I was excited, ecstatic. To make it better, I stepped into a team environment in Valencia so warm and welcoming with open arms, the staff, the sponsors and the riders. I already knew some of the girls from racing with Bigla in the late 2019 season, and others I was meeting for the first time. I spent just over two (very jet-lagged) days with the team in Spain, but I felt at home in the group already, I was certain this team was in for big things. 

ESP: From team camp it was off to Gavirate, Italy to settle into your new home for the year.  Tell us what Gavirate is like, your apartment, the people, the culture and of course the riding.

NF: For our next adventure and bout of excitement we made our way across Europe to Gavirate, Italy, our new home. Immediately we felt welcomed by the secluded Lombardian town and our rental agency were lovely in helping us settle and move into our apartment.

After a full gas few days since nationals, a long week of travel, we could finally sit back and relax. In terms of riding, although the cold posed an initial shock to the system, the roads were endless and mountains consumed the landscape, there was so much to explore, training was dreamy. 

ESP: Already signs of the Coronavirus epidemic impact were showing.  With races starting to be cancelled it must have been worrying times.  You and Mikayla were both scheduled to race one of the season highlights at Strade Bianche.  How important was this race to you and how did you feel about its last minute cancellation?  Was the reality of the situation starting to become apparent?

NF: I remember getting that call from our DS telling me I had been selected to race Strade Bianche. “You do know what race this is?” he said, of course I did, this was huge for me. I remember the elation, the nervousness and I went to pack straight away. So for sure, I was more than disappointed when I heard about the cancelation. In fact, initially I was frustrated, angry even. I had to take myself out on a ‘not so easy’ easy ride in the cold and wet. But this was just what I needed to give my thoughts some space and realise that perhaps the implications of this situation were much bigger than racing across some white roads in Siena, or the sport of cycling as a whole for that matter. This reality became all too real for us only three days later, when Mikayla and I were forced to flee Italy amongst the imposing lockdown.

ESP: From there obviously the situation was becoming more dire by the hour with regional lockdowns and an Italian lockdown looming.  Talk us through these next few weeks and how hoping for races turned to thoughts of staying safe and coming home.

NF: Once we fled Italy we spent a week in Switzerland, riding amongst the mountains, in and around Lucerne. I liked it here, Switzerland seemed calm and when riding out in the little country lanes, I could forget, for a moment, the commotion happening in the world. Here I tapered again, preparing for Ronde van Drenthe, only to hear about its cancellation as I rolled in from my ‘pre race’ session only two days prior. What began as a frustrating eagerness to race, trickled into a desperate hope that we would have any race in the near future. The situation was changing, changing fast, so, in search of family and friends, Mikayla and I parted ways. I headed to Holland to meet my brother as Mikayla travelled to Girona. At this point going home to NZ felt like only a very, very distant possibility. 

ESP: Obviously for you both the passion for your team is huge and you are so driven with the pursuit of your cycling career in Europe.  How huge was the decision to come home?

NF: At the time I was just really upset and disappointed. I felt like my dream was slipping through my fingers and that going back to NZ was only going to admit defeat. I kept thinking of the worst scenarios, consuming my head with negative thoughts; ‘what if?’ I kept asking myself. It was stressful and I thought it over lots, but my gut could not seem to fathom going home. I wanted to think that I would be content by myself in Holland, I imagined I could have trained outdoors, gone about a daily routine alone, I am very independent. But the impact that would have had on my family at home and the uncertainty of its time period, would have been too much of a price to pay. I thought I knew what I wanted, but I think Covid-19 has forced us all to compromise, so back to NZ I headed. 

ESP: Now back in NZ in uncertain times what are your plans and dreams for the rest of the year?

NF: Plans – does anyone really have any right now? I don’t think I can make set plans because, well, I honestly don’t know what’s next. Racing keeps getting pushed further away, I am on the opposite side of the world and I don’t know when I can get back. But of course I have dreams, no world crisis however big could take those away. So with that I feed the hope that we will be back soon. 

We are lucky, because in NZ we are still able to ride outside, albeit close to home. Additionally, I love this sport, so this is all the motivation I need right now. So I’ll use this time to just enjoy it, explore new roads, chase strava QOMs, take it easy or make it hurt, where training is less specific.  Of course, I still plan with my coaches in order to use this period effectively in my development