It isn’t easy becoming a professional cyclist when you come from Finland. The races are really short and the peloton isn’t big. You have to go race somewhere else if you want to make it.
I went to Belgium for the first time when I was 17 years old. I was one year too young but I got permission from the federation to start in the elite field.
My current coach was a professional cyclist and he saw me on the bike. He told me I looked good and encouraged me to go to Belgium. My dad said no. I argued with him and told him it wasn’t his choice and that I would go anyway…but there was one problem, he had to pay for it haha. I eventually convinced him.
For four years I went to race in Belgium during the summers. It was very lonely. I loved the racing but going back to an empty flat and training alone was really hard.
In my first time in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, I crashed after 5 kilometres and broke my collarbone. More people would probably go home after that but I told myself I had to stay in Belgium. I had to prove to myself that I could do it.
Mentally it was really hard after I decided to stay. Every race was DNF, DNF, DNF and I didn’t know how to get better.
Lotta Lepistö wearing the Finnish colours as the national champion. Photo: Velofocus
When I was 22 years old, I was back home and had a really bad crash. I fractured a few ribs and injured my lungs. I could not breathe after the crash. The injuries kept me in Finland longer than usual and it made me think long and hard about cycling. Did I really want to be a cyclist?
“I cried like a baby. It didn’t matter that I was beaten, just finishing on the podium meant so much”.
The World Tour race I won last year, Crescent Vargarda is one I am very familiar with. I’ve done the loop on that course so many times. I went there for so many years with the national team and I never finished the race. I remember I could not make it to the front of the peloton. We always got lapped and pulled off. Marianne Vos and Emma Johannson were there and I looked up to all these big riders in amazement.
So, in 2016 when I finished 2nd there, it was such an emotional thing. I cried like a baby. It didn’t matter that I was beaten, just finishing on the podium meant so much to me because of the long journey it has taken me to get here.
Lepistö wins Crescent Vargarda ahead of Marianne Vos, a rider she admires and looked up to. Photo: Christer Hedberg
In 2015, the team started giving me more responsibility. There was a lot of pressure but the chance was there and I hoped to deliver results with the support I was getting. They believed in me and together with good coaching, I just got better and better and worked my way to the top.
If you want to become a professional, I would encourage younger riders to go find hard racing and challenge yourself. You’ll learn and see if it’s what you like and if it’s what you want.
It’s also good to have a support structure like your family and it’s good to listen to them because they care about you. It’s a tough sport and it’s not easy to become a professional so you have to work hard. But cycling is a great school for life. I’ve learnt so much. It was worth the long journey.
Last modified: Jan 20, 2020
