Which country would you like to see on challengetires.com?
26/09/2018
5 Questions with Alicia Frank
What’s been the biggest change coming into the 2018/19 season?
Not having any injuries, so finally having a full summer where I could prepare for the season in the way I wanted. I’ve changed my summer program a lot to allow myself to get the training done. 4 training camps with other riders and less racing. I’m really confident in my condition but I need a few weeks to get my racing rhythm. Last season I broke my leg, so it’s been a big year for me with some tough times.
There have been equipment changes too:
New Ridley bikes and I’ve made some position changes, but of course Challenge Tires has been a major change. The transition has been very good, I really like them. I saw a lot of riders make the switch and also saw the developments over the last few years. The choice of profile has been great and to be honest the change has been easy. I tried a couple of profiles at the end of last season so I knew what to expect.
When you feel the pressure of the tubular with your hands you can feel some difference, but actually riding the tire I have totally full confidence in them. They have the 5 treads to choose between so each change, up or down in grip is relatively small making it so much easier on a course.
What are the goals for the season?
To stay injury free and move back up the rankings. It’s all about points this year so I can start world cups. The broken leg last season meant I lost all of my points basically, so selections for Worlds Cups are no longer certain. Belgian nationals are a goal for a good performance but I wouldn’t want to target a certain result. I’d love to go to European’s and World’s but I know that needs to be a consequence of my results and performances. I need to just focus on each race and getting better each week. With almost all of last season off it feels like it’s been 2 years since I raced crossed, so building up to bigger goals towards the middle and end of the season is the sensible way to do it.
What do you think about the races here in USA?
They’re really cool. The atmosphere is great, not better or worse than Belgium, but its nice to see how different countries do CX. It’s a family thing here and everyone is really enthusiastic.
I loved the Waterloo course last week and enjoyed Jingle Cross last year. I’m also interested to see what the water did to the course as yesterdays rain was very heavy. It’s a nice country but I hate the mosquitoes.
If you could only win one race for the remainder of your course, what would it be?
World Championships, in Belgium.
