Alena Amialiusik: " It is our job to honour every race we do"

We finally got to interview the great Belarusian rider Alena Amialiusik from Astana-BePink, the team where she has been since her professional debut. Since the 90s, where women’s cycling coming from the eastern Europe lived its golden years, the female peloton had not had a top rider from Eastern Europe. At 25, her performances in both one-day races and stage races are so consistent in recent years that she is a candidate for the victory in any parcours.

Since becoming a professional, her progression is clearly shown here:

Wins by year:

2011: 2 wins (still amateur)
2012: 2
2013: 4
2014: 5 (so far)

Great descender, definitely the best version of Alena is yet to come. Despite suffering several crashes in 2013 and Giro Rosa this year, she thanks every moment on two wheels and the opportunities to follow her passion. She combines studies (she has a degree in Sports Science and begins to study Law this winter) and total dedication to the bike.

Firstly, many thanks for your time. How are you?

I am fine, thank you. It is a pleasure to be interviewed by you. We met at Bira in a very hard and hot day.

For those who don’t know you, describe yourself a bit.

I am focused, I love cycling and I think cycling is my life. I love my family and it is hard sometimes living far from them during the season. During the races I can seem shy or even worse nasty but I try to keep my concentration as much as I can, off the bike I am totally a different person: i like laughing, joking and living a normal life as a girl of 25 years old. I like studying, I graduated in Sport Sciences in Minsk and this winter I start studying again at Belarussian National University to become a Lawyer.

You know that your name is one of the most difficult to pronounce in the women’s peloton… what is the funniest pronounciation you have heard?

You make me laugh! Even our press manager was making mistakes at the beginning of the season! You have to know that my surname is misspelled by many, but my name Alena is really impossible to be pronounced by non-russian speaking people.

Is it? Well, at least we all try! Do you live in Italy?

Yes, my second home is Italy. I live nearby Bergamo. A nice place to train and live. And Bergamo Alta is a very nice place, you should visit it. I usually train on the roads of Il Lombardia men’s race.

Now that you mention Lombardia: do you prefer one-day races? Or do you see yourself better suited for stage races?

I think I can perform well in any type of race. Stage races are difficult because you need a strong team in any situation for the entire week. At Giro this year we’ve had bad luck in a great part of the stages so we could not try as we desired.

I read that you were into artistic gymnastics when you were a kid. Was that before cycling?

Yes! I was a Gymnast and I did many other sports, in my country young kids and girls are helped in trying as many sports as possible. I did also track and field and I won a duathlon national competition. I started off road cycling then track cycling and road cycling.

What is the status of women’s cycling in Russia, Bielorussia, Lithuania and eastern countries right now? Is it possible to see a golden era back, like in the 90’swith top riders like Pucinskaite, Ziliute, Polikeviciute sisters?

I see many very good eastern girls in the peloton, my team mate Tuhai is very promising for example. Maybe the young generation can perform well in the next years but team managers in Western countries must invest in eastern riders. We can´t forget that my team Astana BePink has a strong project of development for kazakh riders and we are observing quite good results now.

That is exciting, I hope we’ll see great riders coming in the next years.
Your last race was Tour d’Ardèche, when you won a stage and rode very strongly. A rider who was with you in that breakaway said you did the race of your life! Tell us how was that day, your feelings.

That day has been amazing for me. The day before one of the worst of my career of racings. Last year Ardeche has been painful for me, broken collarbone while attacking downhill and I still have a a sign on my body from that day.

Ouch, that must have hurt! As for your results in 2014 , you had an excellent March: victories in El Salvador and Costa Rica, 3rd in Binda. And then in August, in french stage races (Route de France and Tour d’Ardèche) you go back to your top form. Tell us about those races.

I’ve had a good start of the season in Central America and in Cittiglio (Trofeo Binda). I understand I could win important races also. At Giro 2 crashes and the consequent injuries destroyed any dream of podium for me, but I fought hard because I wanted to honour the race and my team mates worked hard for me to stay in the race.

And you are the Queen of the Mountains of the WC series! Was that a goal at the beginning of the season or did it come with races?

I wanted that jersey but it came with races. I wore it in Cittiglio on the podium but I could not defend it in the races that followed. In Sweden (Vargarda) Vera (Koedooder) came very close to it and I had to fight hard to gain points in the last WC race.

I will not forget you amazing performance in Plouay in 2013, getting a bitter-sweet 4th place. You were so strong that day. Was that one of your first days on a bike?

I still can´t watch videos of that race… I want to win that race I hope soon. The last WC series race is hard and competition is harsh, it is really difficult to perform well in Plouay.

Looking back at your palmares, I see that in 2011 you had your last results in the track. Are you still participating in that modality, or you have definitely switched to road?

I am a road cyclist now. Double activity is hard. When you are in an Elite team is pretty hard to compete in both specialities. Some of my team mates do it like Valsecchi and Frapporti with good results, I train in track cycling when I am back home in Minsk.

What was your best and your worst day on the bike?

The worst day is the day when you crash. Any day on my bike is beautiful. We are blessed to be professional riders.

What is your contract status with Astana-BePink? Can you tell us about your 2015 plans?

I will talk and I will consider anything related to my contract after Ponferrada, I want to be focused on my core activity: riding my bike, now. We have time to talk about next year, off season is pretty long. I have a contract in Astana BePink till the end of 2014.

What things can you still improve as a rider? Tactics, skills, confidence, sprinting, climbing, speed, resistance…

I think I must improve in any field to be a top rider, I am just 25 years old and I can´t consider that my evolution is finished.

And your dream victory?

Still to be decided, when I will win it I can tell.

And your plans/schedule for the rest of the season?

I need to rest a bit now, I am racing since February so I must stop a bit and then the races of Ponferrada.

See you there, I cannot wait! Do you know the Ponferrada course? Are you riding TTT with your team, then ITT and the RR? What can we expect from you in the 3 disciplines?

I like to think that any rider starts any race dreaming for a victory. It is our job to honour any race we do, so I will tell you I will give all myself to win. I have to see with Walter in which races I will compete.