Cyclist Marlen Reusser opens her holiday album: “I feel tremendously better”

Not a shitstorm – on the contrary

A good month has passed since then. A month in which the otherwise open Reusser rejected every interview request. A month in which she looked at herself and distanced herself from the entire cycling circus. And a month in which hunger returned. The dreaded social media shitstorm did not materialize. “Instead I received encouraging and wonderful news,” said the Tour de Suisse winner.

That meant a lot to her. Today she says, “I feel tremendously better, I’m over the low point.” It may sound strange, but maybe what happened at the World Cup was good.

Cycling without pressure

Reusser has escaped from her hamster wheel in recent weeks. Not while snorkeling in the Caribbean, not during a safari in Kenya and not during an expedition to the North Pole. On the contrary, Reusser did what she usually does: cycling. And yet in a completely different way. She rode with her friend Hendrik Werner (40) from Hindelbank through the Jura, passed the Vosges, Luxembourg, cycled through the Eiffel and via Cologne to Nordhorn in Lower Saxony. Werner’s little niece was baptized there.

“Cycling is stressful, just like any normal job. You don’t always feel like it and you still have to train. Sometimes it’s cool, sometimes not so much, sometimes terrible. But if I can ride like I did on our bikepacking trip, as a balance, without a goal, idea or training plan, that’s one of the coolest things,” says Reusser.

Tandem ride, ice cream and climbing

She really enjoyed the days with her boyfriend, who is also her coach. The cycling holidays would have reminded her of the past, when wattages, lactate levels and results did not have such a strong influence on her life. The photos speak for themselves: eating ice cream, on the tandem or taking a break at a lake.

“It was the first time for us to do such a bike tour. She was super funny. And Marlen as always: fit, enthusiastic, open to new things,” says Werner. A path in Monschau (D) that was closed by fallen trees was also no problem. “We had to climb quite a bit,” the German said, smiling.

A lesson for the future

Now Reusser’s batteries are full again. She wants to shine in the Tour de Romandie, but especially at the European Championships in Drenthe (Ho). Reusser could even achieve the golden hat trick in the time trial on Wednesday after 2021 and 2022.

The shape is still great. But: “I have to find out again whether I have fun and free time for such a test again. What’s important is that it’s not just a matter of getting the job done. It sounds sad, but I will try to find something in this race.”

The low point at the World Cup and the bikepacking holidays made it clear to Reusser: she must plan more carefully in the future and take breaks if she notices her motivation waning. “I will certainly learn my lessons from this year.”