Possibly Hungary shouldn’t be the hotbed for improvement {of professional} cyclists, however you possibly can’t persuade Blanka Kata Vas of that. She has excelled on the world stage of biking in three disciplines and is simply 21 years of age.
Vas took fourth place within the cross-country mountain bike race on the Tokyo Olympic Video games after which fourth place within the street race on the 2021 UCI Highway World Championships. In cyclocross, she was on the rostrum twice on the Worlds, each instances within the U23 division, with a silver in 2020 and a bronze in 2021.
She now rides for the primary Ladies’s WorldTour group, SD Worx, having signed a contract extension to take her via 2023. Whereas her teammates put together for the beginning of the street season on the new UAE Tour Ladies in early February, Vas remained centered on her present self-discipline and a begin in Spain on the cyclocross World Cup in Benidorm.
“I believe I could be actually good in ‘cross, the most effective, so I want to proceed with ‘cross,” the multi-disciplinary rider stated in regards to the begin of 2023. “I began with mountain biking, however then I continued in cyclocross, and street was the final self-discipline I attempted.
“It was my first actual street season, and it was a giant change for me, however I actually loved racing on the street with the ladies. Principally, I improved tactically. I am a bit stronger rider additionally and discovered to be extra skilled, I believe. I want to proceed with cyclocross, I actually get pleasure from doing this within the winter.”
She is “actually good” in cyclocross. Vas has amassed six cyclocross victories in 18 races thus far this season, the final one a repeat efficiency as the ladies’s elite Hungarian nationwide champion for a fifth consecutive time.
Earlier than she will deal with a second full season with Staff SD Worx on the street, the place she is a four-time nationwide champion, twice every within the time trial and street race, she is laser-focused on a high end within the elite girls’s race on the Worlds for ‘cross in Hoogerheide in three weeks.
“Sure, I’ll do the Worlds with the elite. I selected to race with the elites (as a substitute of the under-23 class) final yr, and you then can’t return,” she confirmed.
Whereas Vas earned two Worlds medals within the U23 division in cyclocross, she moved to the elite division final yr in Fayetteville and completed within the high 20 for the ladies’s elite area. She doesn’t now need to reverse course.
“After the Overijse World Cup that I received [2021], the following race was the European Championships, and so I needed to race elites as a result of I felt at the moment I had the possibility to win the elite Europeans. That is why I went as much as the elites. And if I’ll be a world champion or European champion, I want to be in that elite class, not within the under-23.”
It was one cyclocross season in the past, and after her twentieth birthday, that she received her first elite World Cup race on a moist, slippery course in Overijse, Belgium, using clear from Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Fenix), then 19 years outdated, and World Champion Lucinda Model (Baloise Trek Lions). In that very same race, two different notable U23 riders had robust rides, Shirin van Anrooij (Baloise Trek Lions) was eighth, and Fem van Empel (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) was twelfth.
Quick ahead one cyclocross season, and the highest three World Cup girls within the elite area are Van Empel, Pieterse and Van Anrooij. Vas is within the thirteenth place and that’s with fewer begins.
“They’re actually robust, and I believe this yr’s ‘cross racing is on a better degree than earlier than,” she famous. “I hoped at some point, I can race with them as a result of this yr it hasn’t been doable. Possibly in the beginning of the yr, it was doable, however then my form went down. I hope I could be higher once more for the Worlds.
“I simply really feel I am combating for a top-5 place, and it is actually laborious as a result of final yr I used to be combating for the rostrum. Now it is even tougher to be within the high 5.”
Final yr she had an early spring bout with COVID-19 and later had a foul crash within the Giro d’Italia Donne on stage 5 however completed the 10-stage race. She then rode lengthy stage races at Tour of Scandinavia and Ceratizit Problem by La Vuelta and admitted she was sick in September and November and in addition to begin January.
“It was an excellent yr. I discovered lots. Final yr was sort of a baptism of fireplace for me. For the primary time in my profession, I rode a reasonably full street program. I discovered lots from it,” Vas stated.
Her 2023 season may even embrace extra mountain biking, admitting it was her favorite self-discipline.
“I’ll do the Nationals and under-23 World Championships in MTB as a result of I can then qualify myself there for the Olympics.”
Earlier than she switches from cyclocross, Vas stated she is wholesome and able to get again in motion.
“I believe I could be good at Worlds as a result of now I’ve had some days off the bike, relaxation, and typically it may be good after illness. So I’ll journey to Spain and do some coaching there, after which I’ll begin on the World Cup this weekend after which subsequent weekend, after which on the Worlds. I believe it may be good.”
