Q&A: Rose Osborne (Drops Cycling)

Question and Answer with Rose Osborne of womens pro team Drops Cycling about her 2016 and goals for 2017

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Q&A: Rose Osborne (Drops Cycling)

Photos: Tom Oldham

1. What was your favourite race of 2016?
Rose: It’s hard to pick just one race. I loved racing Giro Toscana as Italy is great country to race in and it was the last race of the season where we had a lot of fun. I also loved racing the Tour of Norway, despite the terrible conditions. A home race that was fantastic was the Lincoln GP which we dominated as a team, getting a 1-2-3 and to be part of that was special.

3. What was the toughest race of 2016 for you?
Rose: The early season Belgium races were tough for me. There was a definite adjustment period getting used to UCI racing and in particular Belgian classics which are hard! Dwars door Vlaanderen was particularly challenging as it went up the Paterberg and
the Kwaremont. Nothing can quite prepare you for those!

4. If there was one thing you learned most in 2016 to help you go faster/better, what was that?
Rose: The size of the field is just huge in Europe compared to in the UK so learning the art of positioning and staying alert is something you have to learn pretty quickly to survive.

5. What is the piece of equipment/clothing that you are looking forward to most in 2017?
Rose: Definitely the bike! I used the Madone last year which was awesome, this year I’m going to be using the lighter Emonda. But the bikes are just fantastic and always kept in great condition by our tireless Mechanic, Mike.

6. What is your warm up routine for races – rollers or turbo? Music or no music?
Rose: For road races I just warm up on the road, for crits and time trials I would warm up on the turbo with some music.

7. What’s your favourite discipline on the road; road racing/crits/time trials and why?
Rose: Road racing, for me is the most interesting as its much more complex tactically and many factors come in to play. Crit racing is fun for the pure adrenaline and excitement though.

8. When will you start training for 2017 and what comes first – long steady miles or a mix of miles and efforts?
Rose: I took a rather unusual start to my training by riding my bike from Vancouver in Canada to the Mexican border finishing in the middle of November. Still undecided if this was my off season or the start of my 2017 training! We covered a lot of miles pretty slowly so I think a pretty good base was built. Since then I have been doing a mixture of long miles and turbo work.

9. What are the goals for 2017?
Rose: My goals for next year are to generally develop as an international rider, perform well in stage races, where I can support my team mates and also hopefully target a result of my own. I will be starting the season in Belgium at the end of February so we will
see how things go.

10. Does winter training consist only of riding the bike or running/swimming/gym work (cross training)?
Rose: I do almost all my training on the bike, never been much of a runner and so tend to steer clear of that. A bit of core work as well.

11. What have you learnt over the years to best deal with the winter months on a bike!
Rose: Some really good overshoes and gloves which we were lucky to have Prendas supply us with. When things get really bad, get on a plane to Spain.

12. What was the best thing about riding for Drops in 2016?
Rose: Definitely the people. We are all great friends, both riders and staff. We have had some great experiences together with a lot of laughs. I also like bing part of a team that ‘does things the right way’ and strives to be fair and transparent in its aims.

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