Nickolas Zukowsky
A season of top results and chilling out well
In late July, Nickolas Zukowsky finally had a bit of a break. He had a busy spring and early summer, highlighted by the overall win at Grand Prix Cycliste de Saguenay and third place at Tour de Beauce after leading that race for four stages. Then, after nationals, in which he won the under-23 road race competition, he headed into the woods on a canoe trip with Simone Boilard, his mother and stepfather on the Bonaventure River in Quebec’s Gaspé region. It was a necessary break, floating down the river. In August, Zukowsky and five other Canadians raced in the Tour de l’avenir, which is like a mini Tour de France for young riders.
Why was it important to take that canoe trip after nationals? I’ve been racing a lot more than I have the past two seasons. I made two trips to Asia early in the season to do the Tour de Taiwan and the Tour de Langkawi. I did the Tour of the Gila. Then there was the big block of Saguenay, Beauce and nationals. They’re big races and pretty hard. Saguenay and Beauce are almost one race because there are just two days between them. Mentally, it was exhausting. So, it was super important to get out and do something totally different than riding my bike. I still love it. When I came back from the canoe trip, I was eager to get back on the bike.
Can you think of a race or stage this year when you made a tactical decision that you knew was the right decision, and the racing confirmed it? The last stage of the Tour of the Gila. It’s probably one of the hardest stages in North America. It’s not called the Gila Monster for nothing. I knew that was going to be the decisive stage. I was sitting third overall and at the end of the day, I was still there. During the race, pretty close to the finish, guys from Aevolo and Medellín attacked on the final climb. Between 20 and 10 km to go, they had more than a minute of a gap. Because we had no one in the move, we had to ride. I still had two teammates with me: Serghei Țvetcov and Keegan Swirbul. They pulled because we were losing third on GC and best young rider. But they weren’t bringing the gap down. I kind of panicked. At 6 km to go, I just hit it hard and rode all the way to the finish. I brought back those two guys. I dove on the grenade that day, but it was the right call to make. I stayed third and got the best young rider’s jersey. If I had gambled and waited, I would have lost that position.
Who’s your biggest cycling influence? I’ve only been doing this for three years. Four years ago, I had no idea what road cycling was or what was going on in the Tour de France. When I started off in a Tucson club, El Grupo Youth Cycling, Travis Mccabe would come out and coach us a bit. When I first met him, I had no idea he was on the professional circuit. Later on, I found out he was winning stages at the Tour of Utah and other big results. Next thing you know, we’re teammates. He’s been a role model from the start. He’s one of the most talented riders I’ve seen. He’s a sprinter, but he’ll attack and try to get in the break. I’ve seen him go back for bottles, and still be there at the finish.
What’s some seemly sketchy advice that turned out not to be so bad? It’s not like my teammate Jonny Clarke is a big beer drinker, per se. But he knows how to relax after a stage, even if it’s the big Gila Monster stage the next day. He was like, “Dude, have a beer.” OK. Sure. It’s not the best thing to do the night before a race, but in the end, it didn’t change much. It’s something I didn’t know I could do, and be all right the next day. Just chill out.