In 2022, the UCI WCC Team competed in 24 races across Europe, measuring up against some of the best in the world.
This year they are back for more, and welcome newcomers Maja Wroblewska (POL), Anna Kolizhuk (UKR) and Jasmin Liechti (SUI). The six other women, Natalia Franco (COL), Selam Gerefiel (ETH) Dziyana Lebedz (BLR), Maude Elaine le Roux (RSA), Luciana Roland (ARG) and Elina Tasane (EST), were already racing together least year.
Over the past week, most team members have returned to the UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle (Switzerland) after their off-season break. They have started training together again to prepare for their first races of the season, in Belgium: Craywinckelhof – Omloop van het Hageland on 26 February, and Le Samyn des Dames two days later.
Meanwhile their new coach, Anna Wiese, is getting to know her team: “I already spoke with some on the phone and started to coach them a few weeks back,” says the coach, who arrived at the UCI WCC from Poland a week before her athletes.
“Now we have the chance to meet each other, and I can start building a relationship with them and create a good team spirit. It’s very important because they spend so much time together.
“We will set goals when I know them better and I have seen how they ride. Only then will we be able to set realistic goals properly. But I am ambitious, so I will want them to develop and improve. And have fun of course, That is a huge part of it.
“I’m very excited when I think about the year ahead of us!”
From dancing, to triathlon to cycling
Anna Wiese’s sporting background in her native Poland is vast. After years as a classical ballerina, she turned to DanceSport before opening her own dance school and working as a dance coach. Always on the look-out for a challenge, she then turned to triathlon and competed as a professional before deciding to focus on cycling, the sport where she performed best as a triathlete.
The Covid-19 pandemic and lack of competition curtailed her cycling career, and she decided to try coaching, firstly as an assistant alongside her own triathlon coach, who advised her to register for the UCI Level 3 Coaching Diploma.
Diploma in hand, she is currently extending her knowledge and experience through two more training programmes:
The Women in Sport High Performance Pathway (WISH) programme, a 21-month course which combines online learning with a residential week, which was organised in Great Britain last October. The WISH Programme has been developed in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic Solidarity, the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), the Association of Winter Olympic International Federations (AWOIF) and several International Federations (IFs). The programme has also benefitted from the support of the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE).
Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in cycling coaching, organised and run by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), its WCC and the University of Lausanne (UNIL).
The WISH programme continues through until February 2024, and the CAS will end next month.
“It is perfect to combine these two courses,” enthuses Anna Wiese, who also holds a degree in sports science and has been coaching individual athletes back in Poland. “The CAS takes quite a scientific approach to different areas of cycling, such as data analysis, aerodynamics etc, while the WISH programme is very much focused on women in leadership roles.
“I realise that I have started to introduce aspects I have learned into my coaching without even thinking about it. So I am looking forward to working with the WCC Team. I think it’s a great opportunity to help them with their cycling pathway,” says Anna Wiese, who will be coaching a team as opposed to individuals, for the first time.
“I am looking forward to the team building, creating a team spirit and setting team goals. It’s a new challenge for me but I know there are people here (at the UCI WCC) who are very experienced and who I can learn from.
“I would be very happy if I can help the WCC Team members unleash their potential and fly from the nest!”
Photo: Anna Wiese (right) with the members of the WCC Team already training in Aigle