Q&A: Shirin van Anrooij

At 21 years old, Shirin van Anrooij is arguably the hottest prospect in women’s cycling, recently winning her first elite road title, Trofeo Alfredo Binda, just six weeks after winning the U23 cyclocross world title

- JAMES WITTS

Cyclist: You’ve had an incredible three or four months where success seems to have bred success…

Shirin van Anrooij: I feel like I did as a second-year junior when everything just clicked. You fall into this positive flow and you just want to keep going. I made a big step up in Trek-Segafredo’s December training camp, which gave me confidence for the cyclocross season. My winter aim was to secure my first cyclocross UCI World Cup podium, so to win three times and finish third overall was incredible.

Cyc: And that flow has continued into the start of the road season.

SvA: In the winter, so many road cyclists are doing base miles and building endurance, and that’s not always possible because of cyclocross, but it does mean you start the road season strongly because you’ve essentially had a winter of interval training. It also sets you up for a race like Strade [Bianche, where she was ninth in 2022] and its gravel roads.

Cyc: You rose to prominence by winning the young rider classification at last year’s Tour de France Femmes. How did you feel about your new-found fame?