British champion Pfeiffer Georgi targets leadership role at Team DSM after a breakthrough 2021
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Updated 01/11/2021 at 18:27 GMT
A year which started just out of a neck brace ended with Pfeiffer Georgi being crowned the British national champion. Now Team DSM’s 21-year-old emerging classics specialist tells Eurosport she’s ready to hit the ground running in 2022 – and has targeted the Tour of Flanders for glory.
Pfeiffer Georgi of Team DSM wins the British national championships in Lincoln in October 2021
Image credit: Getty Images
Coming five weeks after her first pro win, Pfeiffer Georgi’s victory in the British national championships road race in Lincoln last month capped a breakthrough close to the season for the 21-year-old from Gloucestershire. It was a moment she could also savour with her family, too, the pandemic having ruled out the presence of her super-fan father at races for most of her first steps in the Women’s WorldTour.
“The realisation that I’d get to wear the jersey for a year was a big shock,” Georgi tells Eurosport from an end-of-season Team DSM get-together in Holland. “Not many people get to do that in their careers. And my dad was just after the line, so that was really nice to have him there at the end.
“It felt like a real step-up for me because I’ve had a few setbacks in the last few years with injuries and the impact of Covid. The last few months have been a bit of a confidence boost for me ahead of next year and the next phase of my career. I definitely didn’t expect to win the nationals this year."
After signing her first professional contract with Team DSM (then Team Sunweb) in 2019 while still studying for her A-Levels, Georgi’s first season at the top table was reduced to a meagre 10 race days because of the global coronavirus pandemic. A nasty crash in her final race of 2020 then forced her into a neck brace for a month and had a serious knock-on effect on her preparations for 2021.
Having battled back to being a key component in teammate Lorena Wiebes’ lead-out train, Georgi came of age with her victories at La Choralis Fourmies Féminine and in the British national championships – triumphs which have finally given her a sense of belonging amid the challenges of the past 20 months.
“This is my first full year in the elite peloton after Covid and my injury. I feel like now I’m just getting started,” she says. “The last few races having my dad able to watch has been really nice, it’s starting to feel more like normal.”
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Pfeiffer Georgi, Leah Kirchmann, Liane Lippert | Radsport | ESP Player Feature
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Georgi describes her father, Peter, a former European masters scratch champion and winner of seven national masters titles, as “my biggest supporter”. With his wife, Louise, also a competitive amateur racer, it’s perhaps no surprise that their two children ended up on two wheels. Elder brother Etienne raced with Team Wiggins for two seasons before hanging up his wheels in 2019 just as his younger sister was embarking on her first year at Sunweb.
“Our parents always encouraged us to ride and being able to train with my brother as we got older was really nice,” she says. “Having a training partner at home was certainly an advantage and sometimes I still manage to drag him out – although I definitely drop him on the climbs now.”
Long road back to recovery
The crash which ended Georgi’s already stilted 2020 season came in the last race of the campaign, the AG Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne. It was a bitter-sweet day for Sunweb, whose Dutch sprinter Wiebes was eventually declared winner after the first rider to cross the line – Boels Dolmans’ Jolien D’hoore – was relegated for deviating from her line.
“I just remember hitting the pavement and then getting flung into a ditch and not being able to move. It was really scary,” Georgi recalls. While she did not require surgery, two fractured vertebrae meant Georgi had to wear a neck brace for a month. Before getting into shape ahead of the new season, she had the small matter of learning to walk again – as well as dealing with the psychological issues stemming from such a scare.
“It took a while to get back. First, I had to concentrate on walking, and then slowly I started to ride again indoors. It was quite a few months before I could ride normally, back on the road again. That made the start of this season slower – I had to get back to fitness, but I also had to find my confidence again after such a bad crash. It knocked me a bit.”
As it turned out, the mental battle was perhaps harder than the physical test of getting back to her level. “Mentally, it was tough. Having a crash where it could have been far worse that it was – the doctors said I was quite lucky to make a full recovery. So getting yourself back into a race situation again, riding fast in a pack – that took longer than the physical side.”
Hours of work with her coaches helped restore Georgi’s confidence while dealing with issues of anxiety and fear. It meant that her form came to the boil in the second half of the season, with her two victories coming either side of her 21st birthday in September. “I’m now feeling pretty confident again in the bunch,” she says. “I’m no longer thinking about crashing or the worst things that could happen anymore. It’s really positive.”
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Susanne Andersen of Norway, Pfeiffer Georgi of The United Kingdom, Franziska Koch of Germany, Wilma Olausson of Sweden, Julia Soek of The Netherlands, Lorena Wiebes of The Netherlands and Team DSM White Best Young Rider Jersey celebrate at podium Best Tea
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Even during these testing months, Georgi was a vital part of Lorena Wiebes’ lead-out train, the two being teammates for 11 of the Dutch sprinter’s 13 wins over the course of 2021. Thankfully for a rider with serious personal ambitions of her own, Georgi was also given chances to ride as co-leader at DSM herself. Thankfully, she was able to pay off the faith put in her – most notably with three top-10 finishes and the white youth jersey in the Simac Ladies Tour ahead of her maiden pro win in La Choralis Fourmies.
“It’s really nice to have that opportunity to race aggressively and go for a result,” she says. “My first win came in September in Fourmies and it’s been really nice to have the freedom to try things – even if it didn’t work out – because attacking and racing aggressively is what I like doing.”
Was there an element of relief to open up her account after the twin troubles of Covid-19 and battling back from injury?
“It gave me a lot of confidence ahead of the Worlds, Roubaix and Women’s Tour,” Georgi says. “It put me both physically and mentally in a really good way ahead of the nationals, where I felt really confident. It was a feeling that I do belong in the peloton and I can be competitive with some of the best girls. And it’s given me some really nice motivation for the winter.”
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Pfeiffer Georgi of United Kingdom and Team DSM cools down after crosses the finishing line during the 7th The Women's Tour 2021
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Supporting idol Diegnan at the Worlds
Georgi rode the World Championships at Leuven not with any personal ambitions beyond assisting her childhood hero Lizzie Deignan while gaining as much experience over the kind of terrain upon which she hopes to excel one day.
“It was really cool to be able to race with Lizzie at the Worlds, to help out and see how long I could last on the Flandrian circuit. I’m really happy with how it went. It felt good to be a part of it.”
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Pfeiffer Georgi of Great Britain, Jolien D'hoore of Belgium and Elisabeth Deignan-Armitstead of Great Britain compete during the 94th UCI Road World Championships 2021
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Over a leg-sapping course, Georgi buried herself for Deignan, who was eventually part of the chasing group battling for bronze in the wake of leading duo Elisa Balsamo and Marianne Vos, the 32-year-old eventually settling for fourteenth place. A week later, and back in the colours of Trek-Segafredo, Deignan put in an astonishing 80km solo move to win the inaugural women’s Paris-Roubaix, with Georgi coming home 12 minutes down for 58th place on what was a ground-breaking day for women’s cycling.
“Lizzie has always been one of my heroes and what she did was amazing,” Georgi recalls. “It was just great to get Roubaix on the calendar and have so many people watch it on TV.”
On top of a women’s Queen of the Classics, Georgi feels like an extended eight-day women’s Tour de France, La Course, in 2022 could prove to be a game-changer for the sport. And she is grateful that such developments have coincided with the upward trajectory of her own burgeoning career.
“I think Roubaix was a really important addition to our calendar along with the Tour next year – they were the last two major races missing from our calendar,” says Georgi. “So it’s a really exciting time that I’m making my breakthrough in racing.”
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Pfeiffer Georgi of United Kingdom and Team DSM during the 10th Le Samyn des Dames 2021
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La Course 2022 a huge boost for women’s cycling
The prospect of a week-long stage race over a variety of terrain – including long and short climbs, summit finishes and segments of gravel – is something which both excites and appeals to Georgi, even if the 2017 Gent-Wevelgem junior champion sees herself primarily as a classics rider. “Of course, it’s too early to say what the team line-up will be, but I hope it’s something I get to do. I’d love to ride it,” she says.
It’s also a race that has been a long time coming and one which will help raise the profile of women’s cycling. “When it is available on TV, people see how exciting it can be,” Georgi says. “We don’t have as much coverage as the men’s sport, but this will help get it out there and bring in more sponsors. That will increase the professionalism, so it’s really positive.”
On a national scale, the natural next step would be a top-tier British women’s team. Movistar, BikeExchange, Trek-Segafredo, FDJ and DSM all have a women’s WorldTour team, while Jumbo-Visma, Arkéa Pro Cycling and Lotto Soudal have women’s teams at Continental level.
With the UAE Team Emirates squad of double Tour winner Tadej Pogačar taking over the Italian WorldTour team Alé BTC Ljubjana next year, the pressure is growing on Ineos Grenadiers to follow suit – although David Brailsford’s outfit has thus far famously shied away from doing so despite their extensive period of dominance on the men’s circuit.
“It’s great that many men’s teams now have women’s teams and are sharing all the knowledge from their different programs. Of course, a British WorldTour team would be pretty good,” Georgi says diplomatically. “We’ll have to see what happens.”
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Pfeiffer Georgi of United Kingdom and Team DSM celebrates winning the White Best Young Rider Jersey on the podium ceremony after the 23rd Simac Ladies Tour 2021
Image credit: Getty Images
Aspirations of winning the Ronde
Looking ahead, Roubaix is certainly the kind of race Georgi feels she could perform well in – although it is another cobbled classic, the Ronde van Vlaanderen, which she feels best suits her strengths as a versatile and aggressive rider. But as she looks to spread her wings on the centre stage, Georgi won’t turn her back on putting in a shift for the team and supporting her teammates.
“I’m certainly more of a classics rider – I love the short, punchy climbs,” she says. “Obviously, for Roubaix you need luck – it’s the most unpredictable race – but in a few years’ time, if I keep progressing, it could be a nice race to target.
“One of my goals for the future is to win the Tour of Flanders – because the short punchy climbs and bad weather really suit me. But I also think that part of my role now is being part of Lorena’s lead-out in sprint stages and I would also like to continue improving my TTs for stage races.”
Played out in persistent rain and miserable conditions and featuring both cobbles and some tough spiky climbs, the British national championships took part on the Rapha Lincoln GP circuit and was not a million miles away from Georgi’s favoured Flanders-style showdowns.
“I love racing in those kind of conditions,” she says. “I’d done the race in Lincoln before in 2018 and 2019 so I knew the course. I knew that positioning ahead of the final climb would be pretty crucial right from the first lap so I made sure I was focused on that. It ended up splitting on the first lap and 12 of us went away to the finish.”
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Josie Nelson of Team Coop-Hitec Products (Second), Pfeiffer Georgi of Team DSM (First) and Joscelin Lowden (Third) of Drops Le Col Supported by Tempur pose for a photo on the podium after the Women's HSBC UK National Road Championships on October 17, 2021
Image credit: Getty Images
Taking the national crown
Over eight repeated ascents of the cobbled Michaelgate climb, Georgi proved the strongest of a leading group that also included reigning champion Alice Barnes of Canyon SRAM Racing. Her typically aggressive riding had helped whittle down the pack – and softening the leaders – before multiple attacks peppered the final lap as April Tacey (Drops-Le Col s/b Tempur) held a small gap going onto the final climb of Michaelgate.
But Georgi was able to soar past Tacey and then solo clear of Josie Nelson (Team Coop-Hitec Products) to take a well-deserved win to cap a challenging but ultimately successful opening full season at Team DSM.
“I didn’t think I could win it if I waited until the last time up the climb, I thought others would be stronger, so I attacked with two laps to go. Getting a small gap on my own gave me some confidence for the finish. When we hit the last climb I went full gas from the bottom and I was a bit surprised when no one came by me at the end.”
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Pfeiffer Georgi of United Kingdom and Team DSM competes passing cobblestones sector during the 17th UCI Women's WorldTour Ronde van Drenthe 2021
Image credit: Getty Images
Six days later, Georgi showcased the red, white and blue jersey as British champion in her first race as part of a strong DSM team which had multiple options in the Ronde van Drenthe. After trying her luck with a foray off the front which posed some serious question to her rivals, Georgi was one of four DSM riders who competed for the victory from a leading group of seven. Wiebes proved the strongest at the line with a fifth DSM rider winning the sprint for eighth place to cap a stellar day on home soil for the Dutch outfit.
“We were all really motivated and were aggressive and attacked from the outset,” Georgi recalls. “We knew that lots of us could win. We created opportunities and had the numbers in the final.”
Talk of the town
What next for Pfeiffer Georgi? Before she embarks on her winter training programme to hit the 2022 season running, there’s the small matter of an appearance at the Rouleur Live event in London this November. Her new-found status as the elite and U23 national road race champion means the 21-year-old is very much in demand. This Thursday evening, she will be interviewed by Eurosport’s own Matt Stephens on stage at the glitzy opening night in central London.
“I’m looking forward to it but I’m a bit nervous,” she says. “I’m quite shy, especially when in front of so many people, and it’s different from being interviewed just after a race, which is just your natural emotions. I feel it just comes out more honestly when you’re tired after a race. You’re not overthinking things or weighing up what’s the right thing to say.”
The star-studded three-day event also features the likes of Anna van der Breggen, Romain Bardet, Geraint Thomas, Marcel Kittel, Fabian Cancellara, Steve Cummings, Andrea Tafi and Nico Roche, as well as Eurosport commentators and pundits Rob Hatch, Juan Antonio Flecha and Adam Blythe.
Georgi’s thoughts will then turn to next season, where she hopes to take things to the next level at DSM having signed a two-year contract extension back in September just days after her first win.
“We’ll sit down and work out where I can be a leader or have a joint leader role in races,” she says. “I think I’m going to be taking on more of a patron role within the team, like I did in the last few races of this past year. That will be something new for me and something I’ll need to learn.”
With some of the most experienced legs in the women’s peloton stepping off the bike in 2021 – including former Olympic and double world champion Van der Breggen and her compatriot Kirsten Wild, a multiple world champion on the track – there’s a wind of change blowing through the sport, and Georgi hopes to be a part of the new era establishing itself.
“There are a lot of aggressive riders are coming through and with many riders retiring there’s going to be a lot of opportunities. It does feel like a new wave of riders is coming through,” she says.
Pfeiffer Georgi will be speaking at the upcoming Rouleur Live event in London, the world's finest cycling exhibition, from 4-6th November.
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