CROMWELL Tiffany

General
SURPRISE CALL UP
She is making her Olympic debut at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. "I'm excited. We all dream of being at the Olympic Games. The way that I came into the sport was through a talent identification programme where the goal was to get riders to [the 2008 Olympic Games in] Beijing, so it took a bit longer than planned. If you had asked me at the start of [2021], I had written myself off of the Olympic Games. That gives you an indication of how I felt then. It wasn't a complete surprise toward the end. I realised I had a chance after a good spring season of racing when I had more communication from the national team. I've cracked, in the past, by putting too much pressure on myself. That's why when it came down to the final crunch I didn't deal with the whole pressure of trying to make the team. This time, I was relaxed, and I did what I had to do, but I just enjoyed racing and did my job within my team, and that was maybe the secret to getting back to my full strength and in the position to being selected for the Olympic Games." (cyclingnews.com, 10 Jun 2021)

SPORTING COUPLE
Her partner Valtteri Bottas is a professional racing driver for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team. "He's also a sportsperson and at the top of his game, so having that kind of mutual support for each other is important. He's been a massive influence in keeping me calm, not over-stressing and making sure that I'm doing little things right. Of course, F1 is a completely different world, but it has been great to have him by my side. He understands the demands of top sports. I think it has helped me regain motivation for cycling, the fact that I have someone who supports me and believes in me." (cyclingnews.com, 10 Jun 2021; tellerreport.com, 18 Oct 2020)

TRYING GRAVEL
In 2021 she began competing in gravel races for her team, Canyon-SRAM. "I've been racing a long time on the road and gravel gives me something new, new energy, and it will help my road racing. What you need in gravel is a lot of long races, power on the pedals and it helps me keep my strength on the flats. I was quite interested because I'm always open to news ideas and doing something different. Gravel is hard, and it's raced hard, but it's not as intense and there's an element of fun to it. I can balance going into road races with seriousness and top-three goals, but with gravel, I can race hard while the feeling and atmosphere are a bit more relaxed. We always joke about ending up on a dirt road; cross training, I like the idea behind it. Gravel offers something for those who don't want to hardcore mountain bike, but who also don't want to be on the road all the time. It opens up adventure, and that element is cool." (cyclingnews.com, 10 Mar 2021)