US all-around rider Veronica Ewers put the brakes on the remainder of her 2024 highway season, taking prolonged time away from racing and coaching to recuperate from relative vitality deficiency in sport (RED-S). A joint determination was made together with her EF Schooling-Cannondale crew “within the curiosity of her psychological and bodily well being”.
“I am recovering from RED-S [relative energy deficiency in sport], and it was fairly clear on the finish of final yr, coming into this yr, that I used to be affected by it,” Ewers mentioned in a crew press launch.
“I had gotten a stress fracture in my heel, which prompted the crew to have me get a DEXA scan and get some blood testing completed, which confirmed that my bone density was fairly poor, and my estrogen ranges have been just about non-existent. I used to be experiencing the entire signs of RED-S.”
The Nationwide Library of Drugs (within the US), describes RED-S as a syndrome brought on by an vitality imbalance that may result in extreme well being penalties, for ladies and men, together with cardiovascular, reproductive and psychological points.
When EF Schooling-Cannondale introduced it could launch a brand new Continental girls’s crew for 2024, Ewers was the primary rider confirmed for the squad, signing a two-year deal. Her aspirations have been to maneuver right into a management position for Grand Excursions, the place she completed fourth total ultimately yr’s Giro d’Italia Girls and ninth the season earlier than on the Tour de France Femmes.
“I have been coaching or practising sports activities fairly competitively since I used to be 10 or 11. So this can be a very new expertise for me, and it’s extremely scary. It sounds type of ridiculous for this to be scary, however it’s leaping into the unknown,” she famous.
On the finish of the 2023 season, Ewers spoke on a crew podcast concerning the ups and downs she had skilled with psychological well being points. She continued with ‘a darkish cloudy headspace’ in January and had assist from her teammates at a crew camp in Mallorca to assist her recharge for 2024 however she had restricted race begins and by no means received the momentum she needed.
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“So going into this yr, once I joined the brand new crew, we actually targeted on me getting more healthy. Firstly of this yr, the crew mentioned, ‘We will attempt to get you to a wholesome place. That may imply that efficiency takes successful, however we’ll make some diversifications in the beginning of this yr, after which hopefully it will come round mid-season’.
“And so my coaching modified as a result of my physique wanted to heal and recuperate in sure methods. This then impacted my efficiency, which then had a domino impact on my psychological well being much more than I’ve already struggled with up to now. So, at this level, I believe there are nonetheless some bodily blocks taking place in the case of efficiency, however I additionally suppose the psychological facet is an enormous half.”
EF Schooling mentioned they would supply entry to crew sources for Ewers, who famous her estrogen ranges and hormones have been “nonetheless not the place they must be”.
The 29-year-old accomplished Setmana Ciclista Valenciana in February and didn’t race once more till three Spring Classics in mid-April. She was capable of assist teammate Kim Cadzow to tenth total and Alison Jackson and Kirsten Faulkner to stage wins at Vuelta España Femenina because the crew was the very best Continental squad, and third-best total, on the eight-stage race.
A constant performer at US Street Nationals, the 2021 bronze medalist within the time trial had her lowest putting since that first yr, eighth within the ITT and 14th within the highway race. She has not raced since US Nationals in West Virginia a month in the past.
The time away from racing would even be time utterly off the bike for Ewers for a full bodily and psychological reset. She deliberate to stay in Europe and journey with household, then journey again to the US for an prolonged time.
“I will make the most of this time by travelling a bit with my mother and father. They’ll be with me to discover, and I get to be a correct vacationer for the primary time in a really very long time. I am trying ahead to it,” she mentioned within the crew assertion.
“After doing a little bit of travelling right here, I will return to the States and go to my household’s lake home in northern Idaho, which I have never been to within the summertime in possibly eight years. It is truthfully one in every of my favorite locations on this planet. So I am actually excited to get there, and I believe it’ll give me plenty of peace simply being in that place. However I simply can spend a while with my household and associates whereas I am there in one in every of my favorite locations and simply get that reset.”
