Danish youngster Niklas Larsen lost six kilos in so many weeks this summer, which helped him power to overall victory in Tour of Denmark and secure his first professional contract. Here is how he did it:
Last year, I suffered with injuries for the majority of the second part of the season. I gained a lot of weight in this period and I really struggled to lose it again. I was at 78 kg and I knew that I had to get my weight down to 71-72 kg if I wanted to be competitive in the fun end of the races. However, despite my good intentions, it was difficult to find time during the season to really focus on losing weight. It wasn’t until after the national championships in June that I saw a golden opportunity.
With no races over the summer and with a couple of scheduled training camps ahead, I could finally really dive in and focus solely on my diet and my training.
My first training camp was actually with the Dutch WorldTour team Jumbo-Visma. I got invited to join them for a week in Austria. It was a great learning experience and I got to see how they did things and what they ate. I got some tips from the pros and I started losing weight immediately, which really motivated me to keep going. Halfway through the training camp I could already feel how I felt much better on the bike in general. The structured training, combined with me not eating candy and cakes anymore, helped me to shred the extra kilos.
After the training camp with Jumbo-Visma, I went on a three weeks altitude camp with the Danish track team in Livigno, Italy. Together with my coach, Casper Jørgensen, I continued the set-out plan and I could see how the weight came further and further down, all the while I was still able to do well in the training. It can be a hard mental fight to lose weight but when you see and feel the results, it really helps you to stick with the plan.
Prior to these two training camps, I did feel I had a lot of power and that I was able to push high watts but I struggled on the hills. Afterwards, everything felt much lighter. My watts were still as high as before but it didn’t feel nearly as hard pushing those same numbers. It was a great feeling and another huge motivation boost ahead of Tour of Denmark in August.
I had already marked this race as a big goal earlier in the season but I also knew that I wouldn’t be able to fight for the GC if I didn’t lose the needed weight. Starting out the race, I felt ready. I did well on the first stage and I matched the other GC riders in the time trial the next day. This gave me a lot of motivation for the queen stage and when I was able to follow the best riders on the steep hills too, I started thinking to myself, “I can actually win this”.
That third day was brutal though. I was so close to letting go of the small group on the steep gradients. My muscles were trembling and I was about to cramp up but I kept going. However, in the sprint, I didn’t have anything left. I’m usually quite fast but that day I completely emptied myself, hanging on to those guys. Still, it all worked out and I won the race overall a few days later. This would never have been possible without my hard and dedicated training over the summer.
My good performances also helped me sign my first professional contract as I’ll turn pro with Uno-X next year. I’m really looking forward to getting started on this next chapter of my career. My big goal for 2020 is the 4000 meters team pursuit at the Olympics in Tokyo. I already set this goal four years ago actually. I believe that if everything works out, we can fight for the gold medals. Uno-X know this and they want to help me achieve it. I can’t wait to get started!
Last modified: Jan 17, 2020
