Anna Henderson
The week: 14-20th June, 2020 Location: Chiltern Hills, Bedfordshire/buckinghamshire Training for: Post-lockdown return to racing
Twenty-nineteen was a breakthrough year for Anna Henderson: she won the national under-23 champs TT and road race, was Britain’s highest finisher in the Worlds road race, and also picked up bronze in the Worlds mixed team relay – all of which earned her a Worldtour contract with Sunweb. The 21-year-old made her WT debut at the Women’s Tour Down Under, before Covid-19 brought racing to a halt. Here, she talks us through a week of lockdown training from last month.
How did you find lockdown in terms of keeping motivated?
I was at home in the UK with my family, and found it a bit hard at the start, but learnt to deal with it – head down and kept training. I didn’t think too much about what the future held, just took it one day at a time. Our lockdown training went through cycles: small base block, then a little build, then a race simulation week. I’m lucky in that my mum’s into cycling, and she’s at the standard now where she can keep up on any endurance ride – it was nice having someone to chat to.
You used to be a GB junior slalom skier – why the switch to cycling?
I broke my leg in March 2015 and picked up a bike during my rehab, caught the bug and realised I was in the wrong sport. I’d been at a high level in skiing, so learned from quite a young age how to handle myself and deal with race nerves – which meant all I had to focus on in cycling were race tactics, bike-handling and fitness.
You’re currently taking part in the virtual Tour de France – thoughts so far?
On stage two [on Sunday 5th July] I was ninth, and we [Sunweb] had three girls in the points. Some of us are more experienced than others on Zwift. It’s such a different discipline, and you have to learn it. My boyfriend [Olly Moors of the Ribble-weldtite team] did a lot of Zwift racing over lockdown, so I learnt a lot from watching him. You have to know the game and where to put the power down – it’s a real niche. I had pre-race nerves, and it really kicked off on the steep incline, so it almost felt like a proper race. [Henderson took second on stage 4, on 12th July.]
You made your Worldtour debut at the Women’s Tour Down Under at the start of the year – how was that?
It seems like a year ago! But yeah, it was good as an early season race, and it was nice to go there with a strong team and dominate. It was a great chance to learn, as it’s so different being in a team like Sunweb compared to being in a smaller team – it’s a different style of racing, looking after the team leaders. I’m really looking forward to getting back to it.