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Winter Olympians sure do like cycling, it seems. And why not? Some of the events like speedskating or cross-country skiing have lots of commonalities\u2026most demanding mad cardio.<\/p>\n
Less than two months after racing to fourth in the 5,000 m and seventh in the 3,000 m at the Winter Games, Sandrine Tas is already onto her next challenge. That means lining up at Fl\u00e8che Wallonne for her road debut this season.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a big way to break the ice. But she also isn\u2019t taking it lightly. Tas kept it simple: \u201cI think it\u2019s super cool that I can start in this race.\u201d<\/p>\n
The build-up has been short, given her recent Olympic experience. Tas only returned to full training on March 1.<\/p>\n
The Mur de Huy, in particular, is a\u2026well, nasty introduction. Now, it\u2019s not like Fl\u00e8che is her first bike race ever. That would be a big ask of both her, and her Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 Ladies team<\/a>. It is, however, her first pro<\/em> race. She\u2019s raced for several years on top Club teams. Last year, she had some notable results, including an 8th at the Belgian road nationals.<\/p>\n Tas said it\u2019s \u201cunrealistic\u201d to expect she\u2019ll be mixing it with the top names in the finale this early into her cycling switch, pointing instead to a more modest target: gaining experience.<\/p>\n It\u2019s common for speedskaters to use cycling for cardio. Why? Because it\u2019s hard to hold the aggressive position too long in training. That means using other methods to get the peak fitness they need to compete in the gruelling sport. Clara Hughes was a master at both sports, earning medals at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Taylor Phinney\u2019s mother, Connie Carpenter-Phinney, also excelled on the snow and on the boards and road. She first competed at the 1972 Winter Olympics before focusing on both road and track cycling, where she won multiple medals at the world championships.<\/p>\n Kelsey Mitchell heads to a third Olympics\u2014this time on ice<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n