‘It’s always exciting to have a challenge’: Isabella Holmgren on the step up to elite level

Multi-discipline rising star Isabella Holmgren has called her step up to elite level "a big challenge" but insists "it’s always exciting to have a challenge" ahead of her senior European road debut tomorrow.

The Canadian, who is only 18, will be part of Lidl-Trek’s squad at the Vuelta Extremadura Féminas from March 8-10, her first race in the pro road ranks.

As part of that programme, she and other development riders will compete at selected WorldTour events alongside lower-level races, with the Vuelta Extremadura marking Holmgren’s first at the elite level of women’s cycling.

“I’m super excited, definitely some nerves since it’s my first road race with the team, but I’m looking forward to it," Holmgren said in an exclusive interview with GCN ahead of the race.

"It’s definitely a big challenge, but it’s always exciting to have a challenge.”

Lidl-Trek are taking a strong lineup to Extremadura, including 22-year-old talent Gaia Realini and Ellen van Dijk, who makes her return to racing after having her son last October. Interestingly, Holmgren is closer in age to baby Faas van Dijk than her 37-year-old teammate.

“It definitely makes me a bit more nervous!" Holmgren said about racing with a veteran of van Dijk’s stature, "but it’s really nice to have some experienced riders and learn as much as I can from them because they’ve been doing it for such a long time.”

She chose the squad – also home to Lizzie Deignan, Elisa Balsamo, and Elisa Longho Borgini – because, “The team is super experienced, and all the staff that approached us were super nice and welcoming. They’re giving us the opportunity to still ride mountain bike and ‘cross if we’d like to, so that's a big thing as well.”

Holmgren was only racing at junior level last year, winning rainbow jerseys in junior cyclo-cross and mountain biking across a stellar season, before signing a two-year contract to be part of Lidl-Trek’s development squad. The programme – also home to twin sister Ava and several other young riders like 18-year-old Brit Izzy Sharp – offers select opportunities to compete at WorldTour events.

Ava won’t be at the start line in Spain which is a change for the sisters who often raced together and claimed a podium one-two at the junior CX World Championships in 2023.

“It’s a big step, I raced with her a lot in the past but I know that we’re not going to be together all the time. We’re quite competitive, it helps in training a lot because it helps us to push a bit harder,” Holmgren said.

As for the prep for her debut, Holmgren is looking at it not only as an opportunity to race with some of the best but also as a chance to get back to cycling outside after a tough winter and many trainer rides.

Nevertheless, her time at home hasn't been all trainer rides and bad weather. It was also the last chance Holmgren had to get herself set before taking on living in Europe and navigating all the complications around the life of a North American rider in the European peloton.

“I’ve had some time at home this past month, so it was nice to reset and be with my family. Now I'm just excited to be in Europe to race and train," she said.

“It’s a bit different because I don’t have my mum at home and all the things that I’m used to, but it’s nice to have a bit of change. Living with my brother and my sister in Girona helps a lot to make it feel a bit more like home.”

Growing up, Holmgren focused more on mountain biking and cyclocross but incorporated more road racing in the past couple of years.

“I really enjoyed it. It kind of just worked out like that but I’ll always still want to ride my mountain bike or my cross bike," she said ."Road will definitely be the main focus for this season and then I’ll do some mountain biking if that works out around the road schedule. But it’s too hard to choose a favourite! During the cross season, ‘cross is my favourite, and during the road season, road is my favourite. It really depends.”

Her best results came in the off-road disciplines last year, but they occasionally took her by surprise.

“You never know what to expect going into a race. For the mountain bike [World Championships] especially, I’d only done one race against the Europeans before Worlds, so I really had no clue what to expect. In a way, it’s good because then you can just race your own race and not worry about results too much,” she said.

"It’s my first year in the elite category so I’m just trying to learn as much as I can – there’s a lot of really amazing riders so there’s something to learn from everybody. My focus is just on learning to be the best teammate I can be and to get better.”