Sophie von Berswordt: Visma | Lease a Bike's new cyclo-cross star? "Wow, what have I gotten myself into?"

Within the women's team of Visma | Lease a Bike, it is, of course, the World Champion, Fem van Empel, who represents the WorldTour team in the cyclo-cross world. In the years prior, Marianne Vos was also a prominent cyclo-cross figure for the Dutch team. In the X2O Trophy in Koksijde, we even saw another lady from the yellow-black squad on the starting list: Sophie von Berswordt. IDLProCycling.com thought it was time for a brief introduction!

Sophie von Berswordt, officially Sophie von Berswordt-Wallrabe (Alkmaar, Netherlands, May 21, 1996), is a Dutch mountain biker and road cyclist," according to Wikipedia. She hails from the German noble family of Von Berswordt-Wallrabe. However, because her father was adopted by her grandparents, she does not possess a noble title, as the digital encyclopedia informs us. So, that concludes the introduction of the 27-year-old lady from North Holland, who was officially announced to be a part of the current Visma | Lease a Bike team from January 1, 2024.

Von Berswordt - who finished sixth in the 2018 Mountain Biking World Championships - narrowly missed qualifying for the recent Olympic Games as a mountain biker. This got her thinking. "I started wondering what else there is to experience in the world of cycling. So when I got the opportunity to occasionally participate in road races with the Watersley R&D Road Team, I grabbed it with both hands," she mentioned when announcing her transfer. "Working together, riding for each other as teammates, appeals to me. Mountain biking is much more individualistic. If you don't win, you haven't done well enough. It's different in road cycling. I can have a very good race even without winning if I help one of my teammates."

Von Berswordt is also participating in the Dutch National Cyclocross Championships

In short, Von Berswordt was already looking forward to joining one of the most famous cycling teams in the world. And this sentiment remained the same before the Flemish Dune Cross in Koksijde (on January 4, 2024) when this website approached her for a brief interview after the course recon. "Cyclo-cross is quite new to me. It's actually been quite a journey, although this whole year for me will be about exploration. But I already see quite a few familiar faces in the cyclo-cross world, so that's always nice. In most televised races I compete in, I have to start from the back. So, I don't think people will see much of me. But that doesn't mean I won't give my best," smiled the master's student in Dutch law.

Read more below the Instagram post!

"Sometimes I do think: wow, what have I gotten myself into?" the cheerful lady continues her cyclo-cross journey. "It's so different from mountain biking, of course. But I really enjoy cyclo-cross. I've already participated in a few small regional races. Besides, after Koksijde, I'll also be racing in Gullegem (where she finished eleventh, ed.), and the Dutch National Cyclocross Championship. After that, we'll be going on a training camp with the road team, so it's still uncertain whether I'll participate in more races. But nothing is set in stone yet.

Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège for Von Berswordt

According to Von Berswordt, participating in various cyclo-cross races is primarily aimed at preparing for the road season as effectively as possible. "I see it as a form of training for those races, in addition to enjoying it, of course. I'm someone who always goes a little deeper in races, so it's good training for me. I'm also someone who always starts a race with a certain ambition. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here," she emphasizes her enthusiasm and determination once again.

As the conversation turns to the road season, it becomes increasingly clear that 2024 will be a year of exploration for Von Berswordt. "I'm still figuring out what I really enjoy on the road bike. I've always said that I'd like to participate in the hilly triptych (Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège). I think those races suit me best. So it's great that I get to explore whether that's really the case. After that, we can figure out how and what to do."