Latest / Zone2Speak Podcast / From Olympic Waters to E-Sport World Champion: Jason Osborne's Journey

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From Olympic Waters to E-Sport World Champion: Jason Osborne's Journey · Zone2Speak Podcast

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And now, for the episode.
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Welcome to ZONETOSPEAK. Today, I am thrilled to host a truly extraordinary athlete, Jason Osborne.
2:31
As a silver medalist at the 2013 World Rowing Championships and an Olympian
2:38
in lightweight double skulls at the 2016 Rio Games.
2:43
Jason dominated the waters before shifting gears to the world of cycling.
2:47
From joining Doutinic Quickstep to excelling at Alpetin Doutinic,
2:54
Jason has showcased his talent on the road and in the virtual racing scene where
2:59
he continues to lead the charge and is the 2024 world champion.
3:04
In this episode, we will dive into Jason's transition between sports,
3:10
his experiences as a professional road cyclist, and his decision to focus on e-sports,
3:18
a discipline he's redefining with every pedal stroke.
3:23
Plus, I will explore what drives his passion, his training sites,
3:28
and the future of cycling in the digital age.
3:31
Let's welcome Jason to Zone to Speed. Hey.
3:34
So how are you? I hear you recently, are you sadly in Girona? Yeah, that's right.
3:42
Yeah, after spending some time here over the December, January,
3:46
we just, me and my girlfriend, we wanted to have a look how life is over here
3:51
and then decide on possibly making the move for longer term.
3:57
So I think we were both quite excited.
4:01
Clear in our decision that we quite like it
4:04
over here and yeah we just now got
4:07
an apartment and looking to move here for
4:11
at least the next one or
4:13
two years and then to hopefully have a
4:16
better training environment have a good cycling community and
4:20
we think it's gonna improve our
4:24
daily life a lot actually so yeah
4:27
wonderful congratulations on the apartment your
4:30
girlfriend kate mcleod she's been on the
4:32
podcast also super talented cyclist yeah
4:36
you can't go wrong being girona as you
4:39
know you can train all year long curious to see how that plays you know we can
4:44
talk a little bit about the esports but first i just would like to know if you
4:48
can take us back into a rowing days how did competing in the 2016 olympics shape
4:55
your mindset and approach to sports.
4:59
Well it was like my very first
5:02
olympics i was quite young still i think
5:05
i was still uh i was 19 years
5:08
old going to the olympics so yeah i
5:11
was very young still and uh by that
5:14
time like of course we were eager to to achieve something there in rio but we
5:22
also knew that we were quite young and that we had to dig out something very
5:27
special to especially get on the podium there in Rio as a 19-year-old.
5:33
So although we were quite motivated, it was still a bit too early for us.
5:40
So we did end up with the ninth place there, which wasn't what we expected or
5:48
what we would have wished to have achieved there.
5:51
But yeah, it formed like the motivation definitely for the next few years to come.
5:58
And then after the Rio Olympics, the dream of getting an Olympic medal continued
6:05
and was always the motivation.
6:07
Every training session we went out on the waters, you had that Olympic medal in mind.
6:14
And that's what you worked for over the upcoming years and to hopefully be on
6:21
that podium at the next Olympics.
6:23
So, yeah, it kind of formed our whole motivation around training and the mindset and everything, yeah.
6:34
It's still an incredible achievement just to make it to the olympics i mean
6:37
there's so many athletes out there that you know try so hard to make it to the
6:41
team it must have been an incredible,
6:45
feeling to make to the team be in
6:48
this environment and compete at such a high level and
6:52
how did you make the transition from rowing
6:55
how did cycling come up in your life well like
6:59
you see it more often like nowadays in
7:02
many endurance sports yeah athletes tend to use the bike as a way to get in
7:09
the miles get in loads of volume without like creating huge fatigue because
7:16
it's yeah it's a pretty easy sport for the joints for for the whole body you,
7:22
basically can ride for hours if you go at the right pace without really taking
7:28
a lot out of your body so it's it's a way of putting in the volume putting in the training hours.
7:36
To yeah get on the next level and to
7:39
kind of form your plateau on what
7:43
on where you want to build up on so it's it's
7:46
a way of yeah making sure
7:49
that you create the foundation to
7:52
get better and better it's like a pyramid like you have the bottom layer has
7:57
to be wide otherwise the peak is never gonna be that high so it enables you
8:04
to yeah to make you make sure you keep keep getting stronger keep getting faster so,
8:11
that's why you see it more and more in any other kind of enduring sports.
8:17
Yeah, I've seen even F1 drivers are doing cycling now as a complement to their training.
8:24
So I guess that's what you started doing when you were rowing,
8:28
and then you fell in love with cycling because you made world tour.
8:32
You were an out-pitching team, for example.
8:36
So it wasn't just something that you enjoyed. It's something that you excel
8:41
at and got a great opportunity.
8:44
Yeah, exactly. So it's like the usual way. First, like our rowing coach was
8:50
like, yeah, you need to start cycling.
8:52
You need to implement it on a daily basis into the rowing training.
8:58
And yeah, it just became more and more passionate. Like you started chasing
9:03
some Strava KOMs or comparing yourself to some professionals.
9:08
And then i kind
9:11
of like at least saw the physical potential that cycling
9:15
also had for me because i kept getting better and
9:17
stronger and stronger and then kept like comparing
9:21
myself to like like i said some stress some very
9:23
unique strava comes even and like
9:27
beating the times of the pros when they went up in
9:30
the race for example and that was like a big push and
9:34
for the motivation also on the cycling side
9:38
and yeah came the esports world championships in
9:41
2021 the first one which was
9:44
supposed to be in 2020 i believe but then during covid
9:47
they got postponed the year and then yeah that
9:51
was the inaugural right uci cycling esports very first edition and yeah kind
9:58
of kick-started my cycling career because yeah with that title of course you
10:04
got like loads of attention and from the media and everything and then.
10:10
Yeah i kind of like made my way into the more
10:13
professional scene due to
10:16
that but yeah it still
10:19
was a process and it wasn't like that title
10:23
just got me into the world to a straightaway it
10:26
was like a process of like asking teams
10:29
and then over and over again and like getting declined
10:33
and then asking again and yeah it
10:36
wasn't like that I got
10:39
offered the contract straight away so luckily I
10:41
was then joining an agency so I got an agent by that time and then things kind
10:48
of kept rolling a bit bit faster towards the world tour but it still took took
10:54
a while to to get there okay yeah so it wasn't overnight but just going back to esports.
11:01
How do you start that? I guess most of us are somewhat doing some indoor training,
11:09
to be more structured or because of the weather is too hot or too cold.
11:13
But how do you even know about competitions and how you become,
11:20
I guess, your country champion and then go to this world championship?
11:24
I guess during the pandemic, most of us were indoors doing that.
11:27
Is that why this start it?
11:30
Yeah, I think it also has to do a bit with the mentality of a rower.
11:36
Rowers are much like a lot focused on their physical abilities.
11:43
They're just limited to basically the better you perform, the stronger you get,
11:47
the better your results will be.
11:50
And that may not be the case in cycling on the road straight away.
11:54
You cannot compare that 100% because in cycling there's so many more variables
12:00
that determine success or not.
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So it's not as easy as in rowing.
12:07
So you always have that mindset from rowing, like, if I get stronger physically,
12:13
I will get better results.
12:15
I will get this and that. So you've got that mindset. And then...
12:22
Of course, like rowers also spend a lot of time on the indoor rowing machines
12:27
during winter, which is basically also just you and the machine,
12:32
just like as you were on a trainer on Swift.
12:36
So there's a connection already.
12:39
Yeah, you have that mental strength to staying on the hamster wheel, if I can say that.
12:45
Yeah. Yeah, so you build a tolerance towards the monotonous, let's say,
12:51
just way of training, competing even, because we also have competitions on the
12:57
indoor machine in the winter, so they're quite brutal, but it's about the same
13:03
than if you were on the trainer.
13:07
Yeah, and then lastly, I'd say I'm a good weather cyclist.
13:13
I don't like cycling in rain, and that, of course, is also a reason I tend to
13:19
be more on the trainer, at least when the weather is bad.
13:24
Yeah, I empathize with that.
13:27
I've been spoiled with living in places with good weather, so when it's bad
13:31
weather, it's a real mental challenge for me to get outside.
13:36
And sometimes just for the structured training, for me, it's also easier to
13:39
hit the numbers I need indoors than outdoors. But I definitely don't have the
13:44
mental strength you have for the esports. I think it's definitely another level.
13:49
And how do you see the esports has evolved since then, since your 2021 competition
13:54
to your 2024 world victory?
13:59
Oh, well, like there's been a lot of changes, actually.
14:02
If you look back on the last four editions, first one was like kind of a,
14:09
yeah, like nobody knew what.
14:11
Nobody knew a lot about it actually and it was just.
14:15
Like to draw attention to the to most people and that kind of kick-started it but,
14:22
then there were like loads of changes in in in
14:25
structure of of the race format itself
14:29
started off with the first esports was like a
14:32
one-hour race and then with like the
14:35
swift km which is a one-minute climb at the
14:38
very end and then on top was the finish that was
14:41
basically it and then they like
14:44
swift came up with the idea of doing like a
14:48
mini series of three races so you have like
14:51
three races like 10 to 20 minute long
14:54
and with like five to ten minute breaks in
14:56
between to yeah make
14:59
it more exciting maybe and more entertaining for
15:03
people that don't know a lot about esports so you've
15:07
got like more action involved you have elimination sprints
15:11
as well where like last over the line gets eliminated
15:14
and then there's definitely was some
15:18
thinking going through on how to make it more
15:20
exciting yeah and then like this this kind of format of this mini series of
15:27
races kind of still remains until up until today like very last edition of the
15:34
World Champs in October in Abu Dhabi was pretty much the same. It was three mini races.
15:41
Yeah, but I would say the main most important change that was,
15:46
was that it was the first ever live-held esports World Champs in October last year in Abu Dhabi.
15:53
And that really yeah, I think showed the potential the potential the sport has actually.
16:03
Because you never really saw it with it
16:05
being like just only online people were following
16:08
on YouTube but now actually with the live event there in Abu Dhabi everyone
16:14
who was interested could just show up there and watch the whole thing live so
16:19
it was a big show like a very professionally set up like a big stage big arena and yeah it was,
16:29
quite professionally I have to say So that was a big step, comparing from the
16:36
first ever esports works to the last one.
16:41
Yeah, it shows what potential it actually has.
16:45
Yeah, I was watching on YouTube and I saw how big it was, how many people were
16:51
there. It looked really, really cool.
16:53
And I was so curious to know how everything happened from start to getting to
16:59
this event. So how is your training routine on eSports? Is it any different
17:04
than traditional road cycling?
17:07
Well, like compared to the training as a world tour cyclist,
17:13
I guess like you're a bit low on volume.
17:15
So you're not training as much hours a week than as a world tour rider because
17:21
you just simply don't need to.
17:23
The races are one hour long maximum, not five hours, six hours.
17:28
So you don't need that really, really high volume.
17:32
However, I still like to maintain a decent volume just because I think I would
17:37
just want to keep my base still quite high to keep building and not stagnating over time.
17:44
So I keep still riding some decent volume a week.
17:50
But then, yeah, like the structure itself in the intervals and stuff has changed a little bit.
17:55
Obviously, it's more explosive because most e-races are decided in explosive moments.
18:02
If it's not a hilly course with a long climb, it's mostly a punchy course.
18:07
So you need to have the punchiness.
18:09
And then, therefore, you need to implement lots of VO2 work in your training.
18:17
And the neuromuscular system, you have to keep developing and keep getting better.
18:23
But I still do some of the same sessions or similar sessions that I did in a virtual course.
18:32
Some parts of the training haven't changed, but the parts I've just mentioned,
18:37
like the volume and maybe a bit more of the focus toward the punchiness,
18:43
that is the main thing that has changed, I'd say.
18:47
Okay, that makes sense. And how was your time at Dochenik Quick Step and Alpecin
18:54
Dochenik influenced your career? Yeah.
18:57
Yeah, well, at Quickstep, I was starting as a stagiaire, so it was pretty much
19:02
like, yeah, dip into waters and test the waters, so just to see if this is really for me.
19:12
And it was kind of rough, I have to say.
19:14
As a row, I haven't done many road races, or mainly just amateur races,
19:20
so straightaway jumping into, like, world tour races was intense.
19:26
Yeah and uh i remember like
19:29
getting my first crashes and i was like wow this
19:33
is some dangerous stuff here and uh and then also like the fatigue you got i
19:40
just wasn't used to it because as a rower you you have those six minute races
19:45
and that's it and then then you're done whereas Whereas if you do like a world to race,
19:51
especially stage races, you have a week of everyday five hour races.
19:56
That was just a complete shock for the system.
19:59
And I was like really fatigued in the beginning.
20:02
But yeah, I just kept going and just accepted it and just thought,
20:08
okay, it's going to take some time to adapt.
20:11
Just keep keep at it keep going and
20:14
then it kind of got better and you got used
20:17
to the fatigue on the way yeah and you participated on tour de austria i'm not
20:26
sure if you did any other tour if you can share your notable moments you know
20:32
from victory to challenge that you had to overcome yeah.
20:37
Yeah, so like cycling is, yeah, it's not easy. It's not determinable.
20:43
It's like you can have the best preparation.
20:46
You can be in your peak shape, but you go to a stage race and just one variable
20:53
turns out not in your favor, let's say, and then your whole ambition suddenly disappears.
21:01
So for me, yeah, we can talk about that later, but that was like also maybe
21:07
one of the reasons why I decided to leave the world to Indian.
21:11
But yeah, that's definitely a part of cycling that I don't really like.
21:15
But however, my most successful race, as you mentioned, two of Austria,
21:20
second in GC, and then I think a third and a fourth place on two stages.
21:26
That was like one of the stage races for me, actually, where everything went
21:30
well. I didn't have any errors.
21:33
And then with that result, you can see what my capabilities are, I guess.
21:39
So I had some potential, but it just has to come together.
21:46
And only if that is the case, then you can see those kind of results.
21:51
So yeah, definitely was my biggest error result there to Austria.
21:56
I remember dropping guys like Pavel Zivakov from the climbs or other super strong climbers.
22:07
I just was in peak shape at that point in time.
22:12
I just really felt motivated and was really happy about how it went.
22:18
And then those kind of results can turn up. So that is the real potential I actually have.
22:26
And probably still have, but yeah, it's just all that's all together, I guess.
22:31
Super impressive. And it must have felt really good.
22:36
But you said about that you touched a little bit on the turnoffs and that.
22:43
Can you let us know what led your decision to leave road cycling and focus on
22:50
e-sports? Is that also something to do with the team dynamics?
22:53
Max, I always wonder what happens on those passes.
22:58
Yeah, of course. Every team, they have their one or two superstars, I'd say.
23:04
In our team, I've seen it was, of course, Mathieu and Philipson.
23:09
However, I was a bit luckier as I was more of a climber, so I hardly did any
23:14
races with Mathieu or Jasper.
23:17
So I also got my chances here and there at the races. I have to say like it
23:22
was never like super super strict
23:25
so I was giving I was given chances for certain races for sure so yeah,
23:33
I couldn't blame Alperstein for any of that.
23:36
Yeah, but like I said, there's just so many variables.
23:41
You can, like, if you really want to push through and, like,
23:47
have big success, you really have to, like, win a World of Stage race, in my opinion,
23:52
in order to keep building on your career and, like, really make the most out of it.
23:57
But yeah just to doing that is like it's it almost feels like playing the lottery.
24:06
Yeah but in the
24:09
end like what what made my decision more clear is that like yeah first of all
24:14
like i i had an injury also going on which you which i shouldn't forget to mention
24:18
like i had some problems with my my right leg that was like really concerning
24:24
me and And it turned out to be actually kind of the hip,
24:29
but then also not the hip and was all like messed up.
24:32
And in the end, I think it was just the nerve that turned out to be irritated
24:37
by some wrong cycling insoles for my shoes on the right side.
24:44
That was just not correct.
24:46
And that really compressed my whole leg, the right leg and just irritated the nerve.
24:52
And then just like downward spiraled
24:55
my performance and then I've all got
24:58
it fixed now luckily so I'm good I'm
25:02
training again I don't have any problems anymore with the
25:04
leg at the moment I keep progressing I'm almost doing PB numbers so that's good
25:12
but yeah I just wanted to have the freedom back of choosing my own goals what
25:20
I want to raise and where I'm yeah,
25:23
where my passion just lies.
25:25
And just like this world tour racing just wasn't it for me anymore. Like I...
25:32
I always knew I was good at e-cycling, like just having podiumed every year.
25:39
I knew that this is my thing, there's my potential.
25:43
But at the same time, I also just didn't want to completely just dial it in
25:49
on the e-cycling and just do nothing else.
25:52
This year, I also have plans in the gravel scene, so I also want to keep the
25:58
contact to the outside world and not completely just do e-cycling and turn myself inside,
26:07
out, and then this is the two things I want to focus on for this year,
26:13
like gravel and e-sports.
26:14
So I've got some exciting goals for gravel racing, and we'll see how it will
26:22
go in the first few races.
26:24
Awesome. Yeah, I want to ask you more about your future plans,
26:27
but I just want to touch on world tour.
26:30
I think, like you said, you know, you knew you were good at sports and you had
26:36
the opportunity to go to world tour.
26:39
If you have the talents, why not?
26:41
And you went out there, you were successful. Like you said, you had,
26:45
you know, you earned a CG, you won, you placed really well in some stages on
26:50
Tour de Austria, which is amazing, but you also saw that it wasn't for you.
26:53
You want to do other things, you want to have more freedom.
26:56
And it's right, like with cycling, so many things have to align perfectly for you to be successful.
27:03
It's not like, I mean, I'm not a big runner, but I'm just thinking running, it's just shoes.
27:11
You know, with cycling, you have the bike and there's so many components there.
27:16
But you went out there, you gave your best that you saw that maybe it's not for you, maybe for now.
27:23
And now you're back on the scene and you're getting to gravel, you said.
27:27
So what are the plans in 2025? Because I know your girlfriend,
27:32
Kate, was at the gravel world in 2024.
27:36
Yeah, exactly. So that is also a reason that has ignited my interest in gravel
27:43
racing. When I was at the World Champs with Kate, I saw the whole competition, basically.
27:50
And yeah, it looked really exciting, really cool. And it got me thinking that
27:55
I have to try this as well.
27:57
And despite that, I've been using the gravel bike a lot in training over the past few years.
28:03
I just really, really love it. It's a nice way of just doing cycling in another way.
28:10
And like whenever i get bored on the roads i
28:13
just switch to the gravel bike you see completely different
28:16
things different nature and it
28:18
just switches up everything and kind of still
28:22
keeps you in the cycling training routine but then
28:26
again like you feel like you're doing something completely different so that's
28:30
i think a nice part of it yeah and then definitely want to get into the into
28:36
the racing than this year but first goals on the list i think now is santa val because.
28:44
It's it's already in february it starts in
28:47
the 15th to 16th i believe and it's yeah
28:50
for me it's pretty easy as i will be living here
28:53
in girona it's it's easy with stuff so it's
28:56
a good first first race i think yeah that's
28:59
good spain has so many races especially in in
29:02
girona and around girona so you definitely
29:05
get a lot of opportunities yeah so
29:09
that will be like my first first race then
29:12
i got some other on the list vertasi gravel
29:15
is the one where i want to qualify for worlds for gravel worlds but like obviously
29:21
we have to see if it if it doesn't work out with on that one i just choose another
29:25
one to to get that qualification spot then maybe something like unbound which is,
29:34
It's still a big question mark on the list because obviously you have to sort
29:38
out all the logistics and travel and stuff because it's kind of a big deal.
29:43
So I have to figure that all out with the Spondos and everything.
29:48
Then the Gravel Earth series, some races there.
29:53
Yeah, a lot of fun ones on that one.
29:58
So there's many races actually to come and I'm like a bit, I have like a provisional
30:04
program that I want to do, but I'm also like open to change a,
30:10
change the program on the fly. If I ever see some races that might be interesting
30:16
or if I get an invitation or whatever, who knows? We will see.
30:20
I've got some great sponsors now that are also very eager in the esports scene
30:27
and I want to proceed with the gravel stuff so that is quite exciting and will definitely help.
30:36
Yeah, I wanted to ask how are you reconciling all these gravel races with esports how does the esports.
30:46
Races work like when do they start and how do you qualify to go to the world championship and.
30:53
Yeah so like i basically i'm
30:57
racing like every week on my whoosh i'm doing a
31:00
sunday race club since already like three years
31:03
i believe so that's like it's kind
31:06
of a go-to thing i keep keep doing week
31:09
in week out and yeah then
31:12
it's pretty much like looking at
31:16
the world championships it's like a an off-season thing
31:19
like you qualify i think the qualifier this year was in august so to qualify
31:25
for the esports world champs thing you have to do the semi you have first of
31:30
all you have to be selected by your federation then you are like basically allowed to go to the
31:38
semi-finals and then from the semi-finals the top 20 get selected to fly to
31:45
Abu Dhabi to the live finals so that's like the procedure you have to go through
31:50
and then from I think it was 150 50 athletes at the semifinals,
31:56
then only getting in the top 20 was already tough.
32:01
But once you've achieved that, then you get invited. And luckily,
32:04
like, My Rouge covered all the costs and the flights for the athletes and everything.
32:09
So that was really, really nice.
32:13
And do you have any rituals or routines that help you stay focused and prepare
32:17
for big events, both esports?
32:20
And now I don't know if you have done any gravel races yet.
32:25
Routines yeah like of course i have like my kind of
32:28
racing routines obviously if
32:31
it's here if it's helia races you're gonna have to have an eye on
32:34
your weight obviously so kind of
32:37
want to make sure i keep like my girlfriend is pretty
32:40
good at that at helping me out with that as a nutritionist to
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dial my nutrition in towards the competition so
32:46
that i have the optimal race weight so obviously
32:49
keeping the fibers low shortly before
32:53
competitions so that yeah you're nice
32:57
and light at race day but then
33:00
also like to dial in the training which is i think
33:02
even more important so that you are obviously not too fatigued on race day and
33:07
you pretty much fine-tune your training that you're a activated enough on race
33:14
day and be not too fatigued obviously so that's always a balance But yeah,
33:20
my coach is pretty good at that and we kind of nail it, I think, more often than enough.
33:27
So yeah, those are probably the most important factors.
33:31
Yeah, it makes total sense. Obviously, it's different from athlete to athlete also.
33:36
Yeah, I forgot to say, like, you see athletes that like need maybe a little
33:42
bit more fatigue in races or before the races.
33:45
Or athletes that just like to rest a bit
33:48
more and that's like just personal i think
33:51
and everyone is different but i can
33:55
share like what i do but like it's it doesn't
33:58
mean that it would work for everyone else so you kind of have to find out yourself
34:04
what works and whatnot but i think over the the past few years i had enough
34:10
time to dial it in so yeah yeah yeah no definitely Every individual is different.
34:17
I have friends that like to continue the same amount of training.
34:21
If they diminish or stop, they feel more sluggish while I need a little bit of rest.
34:28
Otherwise, I'm too tired to race. So it really depends from person to person indeed.
34:33
Yeah. And you said you're working, you have sponsors.
34:37
Are these sponsors for you as an individual or it depends on the sport?
34:42
Like sports versus gravel. Yeah, every sponsor has different interests.
34:48
It's dependent on the marketing, what kind of goals they have.
34:52
But I think I have a good mix of both, both in the gravel world, but also esports.
34:58
Many of them combine both quite well, so that's pretty easy.
35:04
But yeah, I think it's pretty good combinable.
35:10
I just have some fire chat questions now. Just fun and lighthearted.
35:17
What's your favorite ride snack? Favorite ride snack?
35:23
That's a good one. I really like Rice Krispie treats.
35:29
Although it's quite hard to get them in Europe, You have to bake them yourself.
35:35
Or I like flapjacks my girlfriend is making with some dried apricots inside.
35:41
And that is also quite nice.
35:45
Yeah, so like pretty solid, solid food. I prefer over gels and all the liquid
35:50
stuff, especially on longer rides.
35:53
I want to have the feeling I'm just eating normal stuff and not like all this
35:57
gels and artificial or like yeah just the race food the race fuel and i want
36:05
to avoid that on the longer,
36:07
training sessions because you do get sick of it kind of once you do like those
36:14
interval sessions and you chuck down like loads of gels and that's just just
36:20
gets too much sometimes so i really do enjoy the solid foods.
36:25
Yeah, me too. Or just eat a banana. Oh, banana, yeah. Can't go wrong.
36:31
Can't go wrong with a banana.
36:33
And tell me most memorable race, rowing or cycling?
36:39
Most memorable race? Yeah. I guess it's a pretty clear answer.
36:45
I think it's the Olympics in Tokyo, definitely, because there was...
36:51
Yeah, it was just always a childhood dream. Since I started sports,
36:56
I started rowing, started with rowing first, and I never wanted to quit rowing
37:01
until I got that Olympic medal.
37:03
So definitely that was the most favorable memory.
37:09
I thought you would say that. And tell me, e-race or an outdoor climb? What would be your pick?
37:19
Depends on the format also but I'd say if it's both a long climb on the racing
37:27
or outside it has too many variables it's a difficult question.
37:36
It really depends if I'm in a race outdoors and it's like an uphill time trial maybe I prefer that,
37:45
But if it's a real race, like a road race with an upper finish on a long climb,
37:51
I maybe prefer the E-race because it's just a bit shorter and just a bit less painful.
37:58
Yeah, I whopped for less pain as well.
38:03
What's one song in your training playlist you can't live without?
38:09
Oh, that's also difficult. I really like whenever I'm doing hard intervals,
38:14
I just like to have some tunes that really pump me up and really something like
38:22
scooter or some techno hard style,
38:26
something really with a lot of action to just keep on it and not fall asleep.
38:36
Yeah, very upbeat. and if you could race alongside any athlete past or present
38:42
who would it be oh i really think would like to go for a ride with lance armstrong to be honest.
38:52
Yeah i mean he had quite a negative past
38:56
but also like the way he
38:59
pursued out of it and like how he is now
39:02
and what he's doing now is very impressive and
39:05
i really i admire him as an athlete despite the past the past but he's yeah
39:13
i think he made a lot out of his life and even up to date so it's kind of a
39:18
person i look up to and would be cool to write to them yeah that would be cool A cool cherry ride.
39:25
Excellent. What's your guilty pleasure food after a tough ride or race?
39:35
I think either Reese's peanut butter cups or some salty crisps.
39:43
That would be like... I like the choice.
39:47
Describe your perfect rest day in three words.
39:53
Three words coffee,
39:58
massage and the third one sleep in just sleep in have good coffee and a massage
40:07
sounds like a perfect rest day,
40:13
awesome Jason thank you so much anything else you would like to share well I
40:18
think I said pretty much pretty much everything I think I'm good if there's
40:22
anything other questions,
40:25
I think that's all I had I want to wish you an amazing 2025 season and a great
40:32
debut gravel scene I'm sure we're going to be hearing about you and I'll see
40:38
you in Girona yeah thanks a lot and catch up in Girona thanks Jason,
40:45
and that's all for today's episode I want to thank the listeners for tuning
40:49
in your support means everything.
40:52
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider following, leaving a review,
40:56
and sharing it with your friends.
40:58
Music.