Austrian rider Martina Ritter who represented her country at the Rio Olympics is another from Drops Cycling to take the VeloUK quiz….
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Q & A: Martina Ritter
Martina says of her new team “I’m pretty excited and proud to be part of this team and look forward to starting the season. This team puts my motivation at a very high level”.
1. What was the highlight of the 2016 season for you?
Martina: Definitely the participation in the Olympic Games in Rio.
2. What was your favourite race of 2016?
Martina: My favourite was the Giro Rosa, and there especially the Mortirolo climb, where I crossed the mountain top next to Lizzie Deignan and Kasia Niewiadoma. That was really cool.
3. What was the toughest race of 2016 for you?
Martina: The toughest race of 2016 was the Olympic road race with wind, cobbles and a long steep climb on a bad day for me.
4. If there was one thing you learned most in 2016 to help you go faster/better, what was that?
Martina: Trust in your skills and don’t put too much pressure on yourself.
5. What is the piece of equipment/clothing that you are looking forward to most in 2017?
Martina: We get the best of everything so I’m not looking forward to one particular piece but to the combination of everything that matches perfectly together.
… continued after advert
6. What is your warm up routine for races – rollers or turbo? Music or no music?
Martina: For ITT, I do my warm up on the turbo trainer without music. For road races I do my warm up on the road.
7. What’s your favourite discipline on the road; road racing/crits/time trials and why?
Martina: I love long climbs and also time trials which are not too technical because I have a diesel engine!
8. When will you start training for 2017 and what comes first – long steady miles or a mix of miles and efforts?
Martina: I started training in November, first I do base training with long steady miles and also strength training. But once a week I also do some efforts.
9. What are the goals for 2017?
Martina: The goals for 2017 are good results for the team and for myself in stage races. And I want to rediscover my time trial skills.
10. Does winter training consist only of riding the bike or running/swimming/gym work (cross training)?
Martina: As I live in Austria I have to be very flexible with training. So my winter training is about running, riding the bike (indoor) and mountain biking, and when we get snow, XC Skiing and of course gym work.
11. Finally, what have you learnt over the years to best deal with the winter months on a bike!
Martina: In Austria, it is very cold in winter and most of the time you can’t ride the bike outside because of the snow. So when you want to ride the bike you need a lot of warm clothing or do indoor training or, what I prefer, train in the south like Majorca or Gran Canaria.
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