Cyclist
‘I really want to make my mark in one-day races’: Anna Henderson Q&A
Cyclist: You were a national junior ski slalom champion before you got into cycling. How did your passion for cycling develop?
Anna Henderson: My parents were very active so our holidays always involved being on a bike, playing tennis or swimming. I was ski racing a lot as a kid and it shaped my personality and helped me to grow up. You spend a lot of time away from home. It opened me up to meeting people and having new experiences, which has helped me to pick my way through the world of cycling, which is not a straight line.
I broke my leg while skiing and it was an unnecessarily complicated recovery. Even walking was painful so I started biking more. I was trying to find more girls in cycling and I found Lovelo Cycle Works in Berkhamsted. They had a women’s team and I started racing with them. In 2017 I ended up with Simon Howes’s Team Onform [now DAS-Hutchinson] and did the local Hillingdon races and crits. I did the National series, the Team series, Nat B’s and Belgium kermesse. I have been through it all.
Was there a moment you knew you could turn pro?
There was never a realisation, so I went to the University of Birmingham to study sports science. In my head, I wasn’t good enough at that moment to be a full-time rider. Two years in, in 2019, it was going really well and I had contact from UCI teams like Sunweb.
But maybe a specific race was the 2019 Worlds in Yorkshire. That was the moment I thought, ‘I’d love to do this all the time.’ Especially the bronze medal [in the mixed team relay] and the road race. At every World Championships there’s an electric atmosphere, but that Harrogate Worlds was special. I still get goosebumps.
Which female riders did you admire?
Lizzie Deignan was one of them. I’m really excited to be teammates with her this year at Lidl-Trek and honoured to be part of her final year of racing. Marianne Vos – I always saw her but I never dreamed of being near her, so it was amazing to be teammates with her [at Visma-Lease a Bike]. I also look outside of cycling, so Mikaela Shiffrin in skiing, [US gymnast] Simone Biles and the American rugby sevens player Ilona Maher. I appreciate any women that are inspirational.
Your success so far includes national TT titles in 2021 and 2024, a TT silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and an Olympic TT silver in 2024. Did the Olympic medal change everything?
Outside of our world of cycling, I think it really took the Olympic medal for people to realise, ‘Oh, she’s actually really good at this.’ My first elite national title will always be a special memory. The Commies was a highlight as it was in Birmingham, my second home from university. Each one carries its own meaning.
How did you cope with the apocalyptic rainy conditions during the Olympic TT in Paris when so many others crashed out?
We had planned for hot weather and suffocating city temperatures, which is ironic as it was miserable and raining. Between my then-team Visma-Lease a Bike, British Cycling and my boyfriend, Olly Moors [of AO Cycling coaching], we had this big plan. But it ended up being a bumpy path: I broke my collarbone twice; I had two operations, the second one was only two to three months before Paris. I did an altitude camp in Tignes and heat training ready for the 35° heat. And we turn up in Paris and it is 20° and raining.
The main thing we did well was keep my awareness very low. I had no idea how slippery it was or how many people were crashing. I just went through the same processes and pacing plan, with just a lower tyre pressure for more control on the corners. And I think that really helped me to not freak out. I only realised how slippery it was when I watched the men’s race afterwards and I winced every time they went around a corner.
During the race, I had a target power and I looked down and I kept seeing I was over. And I thought, ‘I’m really good today! Don’t waste things by falling off!’
It was a bit weird after the race because I got lost in the crowd. We couldn’t find where to get changed and I nearly missed the medal ceremony. But getting that medal around my neck was so special. Olympic medals are really heavy. I just felt the weight of everyone and everything that had gone into the training. It was a mix of relief and euphoria.
What big races are you targeting in 2025?
I missed the whole spring last year due to my collarbone breaks so I really want to make my mark in the one-day races. I think that’s where my speciality lies, in those gritty, hard, punchy races that you also need that time-trial engine for. The time-trial was never really my passion, but the more I did, I thought, ‘Oh, maybe I’m quite good at this.’ But this year it is about the one-day races.
I think the cliché response is always Tour of Flanders. But also the Amstel Gold Race is hilly and quite challenging for me and a bit out of my comfort zone, so I am attracted to winning that. I like the hardness and the relentless nature of the Classics. OK, you’ve done one climb but there are another ten to go. You can never switch off. You finish those races completely dead because you have to focus for four-plus hours.
How do you relax off the bike?
If we go on holiday, me and my boyfriend are quite active. I can sit on the beach for a day, but then I will want to do a hike or something. This off-season we went to Finland but there was no snow so we went hiking and fat-biking. After training I might play on my Nintendo Switch or do some puzzling.
What changes would you like to see in women’s cycling?
The performance levels – and I see it first hand – are going up and up, and money and salaries are going up too, which I am happy to see. But I’d like to see more growth in grassroots cycling and more support for younger and lower level teams to close the gap between the money of the WorldTour teams, so there is a better pathway through to the top level. And having more women’s cycling on TV would be good too.
For coaching help from Anna Henderson and Olly Moors visit aocycling.co.uk
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