MANAGE THE PRESSURE

Spanish rider Lozano competes for the world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team, Tean NovoNordisk. He earned his first stage victory this summer (August !"#$) at the competitive Tour du Rwanda

I love cycling so I feel lucky to live what I love. Cycling is my job but, and this is no disrespect to most jobs, you can’t approach it with the same mindset as a regular vocation because it’s so hard and takes over your entire life. If you don’t enjoy it, then you’ll quickly feel the sacrifices aren’t worth it.

While cycling is an individual sport, there’s a big team around you (family, coaches, friends, teammates), so there are always a lot of eyes watching what you do, which can feel like constant pressure. This adds to the sense of

responsibility and the desire to perform immediately. This in turn can make you rush your training and try to build form too quickly, which doesn’t always work out and can actually make things worse. As recreational riders, there’s really no need to fall into this pressure trap – please retain balance.

I believe all professionals have a different perspective on this but, for me, the hardest part is being away from home. I like to suffer; I like to race; I like to train. But it’s really hard to be competing and suffering and not being able to go home at night to the support of your family.