{"id":2072892,"date":"2026-08-01T14:44:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T11:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2072892"},"modified":"2026-08-01T14:44:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T11:44:35","slug":"kate-courtney-is-loving-road-racing-and-winning-already-at-fdj-united-suez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2072892","title":{"rendered":"Kate Courtney Is Loving Road Racing \u2013 And Winning Already At FDJ United-Suez"},"content":{"rendered":"
Kate Courtney has already got her arms up in the air as a newly-minted FDJ United-Suez rider, even while being deep in \u201clearning mode\u201d about road racing after her pivot from mountain biking.<\/p>\n
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The American is immersing herself in European bike racing culture. Last week, in three corner-strewn, cobbled kermesse<\/em> races in the Belgian towns of Kanegem and Erpe-Mere against big fields, she won twice and finished second in another.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved it,\u201d she told Velo<\/em> Friday evening on the eve of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift grand d\u00e9part<\/em>. \u201cI went to Belgium to learn \u2013 and to demonstrate my desire to learn \u2013 and to go to a place that has had such a role in the history of the sport, where I knew a lot of the weaknesses I had in terms of bunch dynamics would be exposed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it would give me a chance to work on those. But I did not expect to have such a fun experience racing.\u201d<\/p>\n
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While the kermesses are not UCI-ratified events, they are part of the fabric of Belgian bike racing, taking place throughout the week. Courtney got a sense of the renowned atmosphere at these traditional races around town centers, signing on in dark bars and seeing the whole place turn out to watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it really brought me back to what racing felt like as a kid, where you\u2019re throwing attacks and having fun out there with low pressure, but with a lot of heart,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we had over 110 riders in the three races I did, which is pretty big for a Wednesday night women\u2019s race!\u201d<\/p>\n
While it is what she modestly calls \u201cstarting at the bottom\u201d, Courtney has started as she means to go on: by winning.<\/p>\n
Nerves before the first race for FDJ United-Suez<\/h2>\nRoad racing calling for Kate Courtney.<\/span> (Photo: FDJ United-Suez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
On the start line in Deinze, racing in the kit for new team FDJ United-Suez for the first time, Courtney felt the nerves. \u201cHonestly, it was challenging mid-season to like make such a big change and then have races that probably I was not set up necessarily to perform at my best in, with so much change, newness, travel and new equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think\u00a0 it really demonstrated to me: one, that I\u2019m in the right team and the right place. Because I felt extremely supported in that learning process. And two, it\u2019s just really inspiring. I started to get a picture of what the challenge is and and what I\u2019ll need to do to be successful within this new environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The best part for Courtney has been working together as a unit, something she says she has never experienced before. Teammates rallied around her, giving tips and water bottles when she dropped one.<\/p>\n
A crucial confidence boost<\/h2>\n
Courtney is no stranger to the podium on the tarmac, winning US Nationals and a stage of the Tour de Feminin in Czechia. However, as she embarks on the road racing journey, the two latest victories gave Courtney a lot of confidence and helped her \u201cto see that my technical skills carry over. I respect the challenge and different skillset that road requires.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Belgium on flat courses with cobbles, with cracks, with wind and huge pelotons, I was quite nervous to go into that environment. I thought \u2018will I go to Belgium, crash and get hurt in week two?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cTo see actually, no, I\u2019m very confident on my bike and really comfortable technically \u2026 it was less about the result on paper and more about the feeling on the bike when I was there, which will be very beneficial for me moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Learning little skills to race the big dogs soon<\/h2>\n\nKate Courtney in her recent life as a record-breaking privateer mountain biker (Photo: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n
It\u2019s all part of the \u201cwhirlwind\u201d experience since signing for FDJ United-Suez, meeting the team, looking for houses in Europe ahead of 2027, collaborating with a high performance team for which she feels lucky. \u201cThey\u2019re really helping me to understand how I break down a course, how I ride to a plan, how I work within the team. Even simple things like using the radio or navigating feed zones are quite different in a road race.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cAnd right now, as much as I want to be getting that extra watt, going to altitude and training really hard, the things that are going to make a big difference in my trajectory and long-term projection are learning the ins and outs of those little skills, and being able to master the strategy behind the scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Courtney is at the Tour de France Femmes start in Lausanne, supporting her teammates and soaking it all in at the sport\u2019s pinnacle race.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will only watch the first two stages, and hopefully will get in the car with some of our DSs and be able to see some behind the scenes of what goes on in the peloton, but also like that strategy piece, how the team works and how they prepare for one of the biggest goals of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
A free hit at the World Champs<\/h2>\n
This summer, Courtney is focusing on weaknesses, pack skills, technical skills and tactics that will help her to fulfill her potential. She\u00a0is expected to race at the Tour of Britain (August 19-23) with FDJ United-Suez.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really focused on just laying a strong foundation for next year. I think a lot of the investments we\u2019re making right now are things that will allow us to actually make changes to my performance in the fall. We\u2019re collecting the data and we\u2019ll be able to act on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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However, there are already races to aim for at the end of the year, such as late September\u2019s World Championships road race in Montr\u00e9al. \u201cI don\u2019t think I can even put a results goal to that. I think that there\u2019s a lot of freedom for that in that for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn many ways as athletes, we try to trick ourselves into not having these outcome goals, right, and to focus on the process. It actually just sets me up well to do that because I can\u2019t, I don\u2019t know enough in order to be able to set really hard, numerical goals. That\u2019s actually a really great place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grand Tour and Classics hopes<\/h2>\n
In 2027, Courtney said she hopes to race a grand tour and spring Classics. Endurance suffer-fests like Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix might come to mind as potentially suited to the durable mountain biking star. Asked of races she was dreaming of doing, she opted not to name one.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeaving things a bit open, being curious and flexible about what I\u2019m ready for is the best thing that could possibly happen for me right now,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like the team is protecting me in that learning process, giving me the opportunity to stretch my skillset.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhen I demonstrate I\u2019m comfortable or ready for this, I\u2019m going to get responsibility and those opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they\u2019re not just throwing me to the wolves. We are partners in helping me to become the best athlete I can be. And hopefully, if I deserve to be on the team, I\u2019ll make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-31-at-19.08.30.jpeg”] Julia Dowd Andy McGrath Updated August 1, 2026 08:52AM Kate Courtney has already got her arms up in the air as a newly-minted FDJ United-Suez rider, even while being deep in \u201clearning mode\u201d about road racing after her pivot from mountain biking. The American is immersing herself in European bike racing culture. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2072892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2072892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2072892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2072892\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2072892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2072892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2072892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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