September 28, 2014 (Ponferrada, Spain) – Pedal Magazine caught up with Canada’s Lex Albrecht following the Elite women’s road race at the 2014 UCI Road World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain which suffered a huge crash on the second lap. Many riders were injured including Albrecht and her three Team Canada teammates Karol-Ann Canuel, Leah Kirchmann and Joelle Numainville who were hospitalized – read about their injuries and recovery here and here. Albrecht was able to continue the race but later withdrew. The Montreal-based rider flew to Spain last minute after her second appeal for non-selection to the team was accepted by Cycling Canada who issued the following release.

Tell us about the unfortunate crash that struck the Elite Women’s peloton on the second lap ?
Lex Albrecht: I was in the main group when the crash happened. It went down on the fastest part of the course, a relatively steep, straight downhill. I couldn’t do anything to stop myself from going down, it was too fast to brake in time. I landed on my elbow and hit my head either before or after skidding on my back and side. I was beside Karol-Ann [Canuel]. I asked her if she was ok, and she wasn’t. So I just kept telling her that everything was okay. We were okay – that she was okay.

I stayed still for a certain period of time trying to figure out if my head was fine or not. Somebody came to help me get untangled from my bike. My mechanic came to check it. He told me to get back on… so I did. I passed Joëlle [Numainville] as I descended, she was standing on the side of the road, dirty and bloody from the crash. I offered my wheel, it looked like she had a flat. She declined and I continued down the hill.

Then it sunk in that the race was over for me. I wanted to fight so badly today… I was broken. A couple other girls caught up, and we caught a few more. I decided to keep riding until I got pulled. The World Championships is no Gran Fondo. Nobody cares who comes in 100th. My heart was broken but I wasn’t going to quit until I had no other choice.

We were pulled with three laps to go I think. Our director consoled me with a hug and our soigneur cleaned my wounds. Moral support and physical help was all I needed then and I was grateful for it.  I learned that all three of my teammates had been take  to the  hospital. I felt terrible for them.

Tough day out there for you and the team. Did you like the course and have a chance to check it out as you came last minute?
LA: I liked the course a lot. The hills were just short enough to suit me and once I learned to corners I found the descents fun. The finish did not suit me but I knew that each of my teammates had a good shot.

Did you suffer from any jetlag and who covered the expense of the flight ?
LA: I found out I would be coming to Spain about six hrs before my flight was scheduled to take off. I slept the whole way from Montreal to Nice – the best trans-atlantic flight of my life. I had two more connections, and arrived at the hotel just before 3am I woke up 3 or 4 hours later to a surprise visit from doping control officers, before jumping in the van with a bowl of cereaL to go to Ponferrada to pre-ride the course. I was exhausted by the time I came back. The hotel was quite peaceful and I had no trouble having a solid nap. The next night I slept 10hrs and felt like I had recovered from the jet lag quite well. The National team covered the flight costs as part of their policy. [Albrecht’s second appeal to the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada was accepted by Cycling Canada]

Given the pressure of competing at the Worlds how did the circumstances of coming so last minute affect you – what mental adjustments did you make?
LA: Worlds is always somewhat stressful. However the fact that I spent the days leading into the race at home, doubting I would be in Spain to race may have been to my advantage in a certain sense. I was calm, and had been enjoying training at home on some of my favourite roads, with good friends, and doing other fun stuff like motorcycling, with none of the subtle stress that the anticipation of the Worlds can bring!

How about an overview of the highs and lows of your 2014 season.
LA: The season began with a stage race victory in California. In San Dimas I crashed and had a concussion and was forced to sit out Redlands, but spent my time recovering with my teammates. I came back strong with podium finished and team victories at Sea Otter, scored some points at Winston (UCI 1.2) in North Carolina, won the Killington Stage Race and finished a bittersweet second at the Parx Casino Phillly Cycling Classic, which I became satisfied with after a couple of days of digesting my emotions.

I fell very ill after Gatineau and was so sick that I thought my cycling career was over. I was ill for nearly 1.5 months with a viral infection. I rode the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, OR, as a comeback race, and spent  the next block in CA, doing local races, and getting in some solid training.

Two days after returning to Quebec I successfully defended the provincial time trial and road race champion titles, and the following week I won three stages and the general classification at the Green Mountain Stage Race. I was able to represent Canada at Worlds, though the outcome for our team following the nasty crash that took out a good chunk of the field was unfortunate. I feel badly for my teammates who were hurt the worse – Karol-Ann and Leah [Kirchmann]. I hope they fully recover quickly. My season sure was up and down but all of the ups definitely made it worthwhile.

My team TWENTY16 supported me through my lows and it wad great to celebrate our highs together.  The team is simply amazing.

What are your expectations for 2015?
LA: To be stronger, faster, smarter, better. I’d like to target some races outside of the North American racing calendar.  The addition of a World Cup race in North America (Philly) as well as a few more UCI races (Joe Martin Stage Race, perhaps Tour of the Gila) is also exciting.

Will you have a different focus with your training or diet etc…?
LA: This year I prepared for the season at PowerWatts Premier Studio in Montreal and nearly all of my training is done according to power output numbers that are read through my Quarq power meter. SRAM and Quarq have been very good to TWENTY16, making these devices available to us.

I keep my diet very consistent when I am at home and I feel my best when I don’t deviate too much from it on the road.  My go-to breakfast is oatmeal that I add different things to to tweak its glycemic index. I am a sucker for ginger kombucha and definitely have a weak spot for third wave espresso. But I’ve toned down my caffeine consumption, and pulling shots with good decaf coffee that I keep my grinder’s hopper filled with seems to be a good strategy.

Thanks for your time and all the best.
LA: Thanks