📝 Maruša Tereza Šerkezi • 📸 MEDIAMONI I Monica Gasbichler

Letošnje poletje je bilo eno izmed najbolj zanimivih in delovnih. Poimenovala sem ga kar »My little complicated summer. Glavni cilj sezone se je počasi bližal – svetovno prvenstvo v švicarski Crans-Montani. Pred tem pa sem nastopila še na evropskem prvenstvu na Portugalskem.

Spomnim se pogovorov doma, da bo vročina na tekmi velik problem, saj so ves teden opozarjali na vročinski val v Španiji. A Melgaço (beri Melgaso) očitno nima take klime – ko sem stopila z letala, me je pričakalo prijetno sveže vreme s sunki vetra. Celo poletje sem se pripravljala na vročino s treningi “heat”. To je pomenilo kolesarjenje na trenažerju brez klime, oblečena sem bila v “bundo na gumbe”, dolge zimske hlače, kapo in rokavice. Bilo je neprijetno, saj mi je bilo že po petih minutah neznosno vroče, z obraza pa so se mi ulivali potoki znoja. Na koncu sem vedno iztisnila potoček vode iz bunde. Bilo je res zanimivo pripravljalno obdobje.

Na prvenstvu sem imela dva tekmovalna dneva – XCC (kratki kros) in XCO. Na kratkem krosu sem se počutila izjemno močno in skoraj vso tekmo vozila na prvem položaju. Na koncu sva ostali samo še midve s Čehinjo Barboro Bukovsko. Odločil je sprint na milimetre, ki sem ga presenetljivo dobila. Neizmerna sreča – ubranila sem naslov evropske prvakinje v kratkem krosu.

Bila sem razočarana – izgubila sem majico, ki me je spremljala zadnja tri leta. A sem se vsaj nekaj naučila: poslušati moram ljudi okoli sebe (predvsem Fatija!¹), ki mi je dal jasna navodila o hlajenju, jaz pa jih zaradi mladostniškega zanosa nisem upoštevala. Boleča lekcija za naslednjič.

Ravno ta poraz mi je dal dodaten zagon za septembrsko svetovno prvenstvo v Švici. Po evropskem je sledil kratek premor, nato pa spet delo. Za 14 dni smo šli na višinske priprave v Livigno. V ta kraj sem zaljubljena – čudovita pokrajina, odlične temperature in neskončne ceste za vožnjo. Kombinirala sem cestne in gorske treninge. Bilo je intenzivno, a sem odmislila bolečino in utrujenost. Zakaj? Ker sem bila popolnoma osredotočena na glavni cilj. Poleg tega je Livigno kolesarska dežela – motivacija pride kar sama, ko na ovinku srečaš Remca Evenepoela, Demi Vollering ali druge zvezde iz kolesarskega sveta.

Na sredini priprav je sledil test forme. Za dva dni smo odšli v Basel na zadnjo tekmo Junior Series pred svetovnim prvenstvom. Proga mi sprva ni bila všeč – ravninska in netehnična. Dan pred dirko sem v sobi “travmirala”, da to ni proga zame in da me bo Anja spet prehitela. Oče me je hitro streznil z ostrim glasom, naj zaupam vase, da smo delali temu primerne treninge in da se moram prilagoditi vsaki progi, ker ne bodo vedno samo klanci in če to pričakujem, bolje da neham in se smilim sama sebi. Morda je pomagalo – naslednji dan sem začela odlično, postavila sem se na prvi položaj in se skupaj z Anjo odpeljala naprej. Dirka je bila zelo taktična, odločil pa jo je sprint, ki sem ga dobila. Končno sem si dokazala, da zmorem tudi na ravninskih in hitrih progah.

Formo smo preizkusili, nato pa je sledil še en teden brutalnih treningov v Livignu. Zdelo se mi je, kot da želi moj trener narediti atentat name. A hitro se je pokazalo, da smo zadeli pravo smer – forma je rasla, počutila sem se močno. Ravno prav, saj me je čez dva tedna čakalo svetovno prvenstvo.

Letos se je odvijalo v švicarski Crans Montani na 1500 metrih nadmorske višine. Proga velja za najbolj tehnično med vsemi v svetovnem pokalu. Nanjo sem šla z velikim spoštovanjem, saj so imele lani tudi najboljše tekmovalke pripombe, da je pretežka. Linije sem večinoma naštudirala sama ob pomoči tehničnega trenerja iz moje ekipe CUBE. Krog za krogom sem bolj uživala. Bila je tehnična, a tekoča, hitra, zahtevala je fokus in natančnost. Oboževala sem jo – še posebej zaradi dolgih klancev, kjer sem lahko pokazala svoje prednosti.

Na dan tekme sem želela vse izpeljati mirno. Zjutraj sem imela kratek pogovor s športno psihologinjo, ki mi je dala zadnje napotke in samozavest. Trema je naraščala. Obožujem zvok valjev med ogrevanjem – sporočajo, da bo kmalu šlo zares. Vedno poslušam rap, tokrat Eminema. Ravno prav me “naspidira”, da pridem na start umirjena, a željna boja. Start je bil dober, čeprav sem zgrešila pedal. Hitro sem se prebila naprej in že v prvem krogu napadla. To je bila taktika -narediti dirko čim težjo. Uspelo mi je pobegniti, a se mi je pridružila Anja. Tokrat se je nisem ustrašila. Navila sem tempo in se ji v predzadnjem krogu odpeljala. Prednost sem zadržala in jo še povečala, kljub prazni zadnji pnevmatiki² v celem zadnjem krogu.

Uspelo mi je. Občutka ob zadnjem spustu ne znam opisati. Po glavi mi je šlo vse mogoče, a najbolj sem čutila olajšanje. Kamen z ramen. Uspelo mi je prenesti vse delo s treningov v tekmo. Neverjetno. Sanje so se uresničile. Najlepše pa je, da lahko srečo delim z najbližjimi, ki me podpirajo in verjamejo vame že celo življenje. Objemi v cilju so najlepši. Trenutek, ko poslušaš slovensko himno, ponosno zreš v dvigajočo se zastavo in si poskušaš zapomniti vsako podrobnost podelitve.

Takoj po podelitvi je sledila dopinška kontrola – tokrat presenetljivo hitra, v desetih minutah. Tako sem imela čas še za navijanje za juniorje. In tako se je moj sanjski dan zaključil.

Če potegnem črto – največjo zaslugo za zmago ima prav drugo mesto na EP v Melgaçu. Od tam naprej smo se še bolj poglobili v treninge in naredili nekaj sprememb. Obrestovalo se je.

Po evropskem prvenstvu na cesti sledi zaslužen počitek. Tekme se nadaljujejo prihodnje leto v kategoriji U23, v kateri bom naslednja štiri leta. In če sem s pre- hodom v U19 rekla, da grem v prvi razred, me tokrat čaka realka s tekmami svetovnega pokala. Ko veš, veš.

1. Ljubkovalno ime za mojega trenerja in očeta. Predvsem kadar mi skuša kaj dopovedati, sama pa vztrajam pri svojem. In na koncu dneva, ko mu uspe, da ima nekako vedno prav, se nasmehne in izjavi: “Tvoj Fati že ve.” ↩︎
2. V obeh pnevmatikah sem imela t. i. inserte, ki omogočajo vožnjo do tehnične cone kljub temu, da so pnevmatike prazne. Na enem izmed ovinkov sem potegnila kolo preveč agresivno in odlepila rob pnevmatike. Ta se je sicer prijela nazaj, a je izgubila nekaj tlaka. Ker sem nekaj treningov opravila tudi s praznimi pnevmatikami, me to ni preveč zmotilo in sem nadaljevala vožnjo do cilja brez menjave. Ja, Fati je imel prav, da je treba trenirati v vseh razmerah in tudi z najslabšo opremo ↩︎
3. The loving nickname for my coach – my dad. Especially when he tries to explain something to me while I stubbornly insist on my way. And in the end, when he’s right again, he smiles and says: “Your Fati knows.” ↩︎
4. I had inserts in both tires, which allow riding to the tech zone even when flat. In one of the corners, I leaned the bike too aggressively and the tire bead burped. It sealed again, but lost air. Since I had trained with flat tires before, it didn’t bother me much and I continued to the finish without changing. Yes – Fati was right that you have to train in all conditions and even with the worst equipment. ↩︎

Here is the full English translation of my text done by ChatGPT Version 1.2025.231

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No Room for Mistakes

📝 Maruša Tereza Šerkezi • 📸 MEDIAMONI | Monica Gasbichler

This summer was one of the most interesting and most demanding yet. I simply called it “My little complicated summer.”

The main goal of the season was slowly approaching – the World Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Before that, I lined up for the European Championships in Portugal.

I remember all the talks at home about how the heat would be a huge problem on the race, because the whole week they were warning about a heat wave in Spain. But Melgaço (pronounced Melgaso) clearly has a different climate – the moment I stepped off the plane, I was welcomed by fresh air and strong gusts of wind.

All summer I prepared for the heat with “heat” training sessions. That meant riding on the trainer with no air conditioning, wearing a “buttoned jacket,” long winter tights, a cap and gloves. It was awful – after just five minutes I was boiling, sweat was pouring off my face, and at the end I could always squeeze a little stream of water out of the jacket.

A very “interesting” preparation period.

At the championships, I had two race days – XCC (short track) and XCO. On the short track I felt incredibly strong and rode almost the whole race in first position. In the end only the Czech rider Barbora Bukovska and I were left. The sprint was decided by millimetres, and surprisingly, I won. I was unbelievably happy – I defended my European champion title in short track.

Then came a rest day, but temperatures kept rising. Maybe we overestimated that cool start.

On the day of the XCO race, I woke up pretty calm. After breakfast, I went to physiotherapy to wake up my sleepy muscles, then started warming up. Here I made a mistake – I started cooling too late, so I was already overheated on the start line. Bad sign.

For the first three laps I rode together with Anja Grossman from Switzerland – we’ve been battling each other all season. This time she beat me – I cracked in the third lap. I overheated, even though I was pouring cold water over myself, and finished second.

I was disappointed – I lost the jersey that had been with me for the last three years. But at least I learned something: I need to listen to the people around me (especially Fati!³) who gave me clear instructions for cooling, and I ignored them because of some youthful stubbornness. A painful lesson for next time.

It was exactly this defeat that gave me an extra push for the September World Championships in Switzerland. After Europeans, I had a short break, then straight back to work. We went to Livigno for 14 days of altitude training. I’m in love with that place – beautiful scenery, perfect temperatures, endless roads. I combined road and MTB training. It was intense, but I ignored the pain and fatigue. Why? Because I was fully focused on the main goal. And Livigno is cycling heaven – motivation is automatic when you pass Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, or other stars on a climb.

In the middle of the camp, I had a form test. We went to Basel for two days for the last Junior Series race before Worlds. At first, I didn’t like the course – flat and non-technical. The day before the race, I was in my room “traumatizing,” convinced the course didn’t suit me and that Anja would beat me again. My dad snapped me out of it, telling me to trust myself, that we trained for this, and that I must adapt to every course because there won’t always be climbs. And if I expect that, I might as well quit and feel sorry for myself.

Maybe it helped – the next day I started great, went straight to the front and rode away with Anja. The race was very tactical, and the sprint decided it again – I won. Finally, I proved to myself that I can do it on fast, flat courses too.

We tested the form, then one more week of brutal training in Livigno. I felt like my coach wanted to assassinate me. But soon it was clear we were on the right path – my form was growing, I felt strong. Just in time, because the World Championships were two weeks away.

This year they took place in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, at 1500 meters elevation. The course is considered the most technical in the entire World Cup. I approached it with huge respect, because last year even the best riders complained it was too hard. I studied the lines mostly by myself with help from the technical coach from my CUBE team.

Lap by lap, I enjoyed it more. It was technical, but smooth, fast, demanding focus and precision. I loved it – especially the long climbs where I could show my strengths.

On race day, I wanted everything calm. In the morning, I had a short talk with the sports psychologist who gave me final advice and confidence. I was getting nervous. I love the sound of rollers during warm-up – it means things are getting real. I always listen to rap, this time Eminem. He “amps” me just right – calm but ready to fight.

The start was good, even though I missed the pedal. I quickly got forward and attacked already in the first lap. That was the plan – make the race as hard as possible. I managed to break away, but Anja joined me. This time, I wasn’t scared. I pushed the pace and dropped her in the second-to-last lap. I kept and even increased the lead, despite a flat rear tire⁴ for the entire last lap.

I did it. I can’t describe the feeling on the last descent. My mind was racing with everything, but mostly I felt relief. A rock off my shoulders. I managed to transfer all that training into the race. Unreal. Dreams came true. And the best part – sharing the happiness with my closest people, who support and believe in me my whole life. Hugs at the finish are the best. The moment when you hear the Slovenian anthem, proudly stare at the rising flag, trying to remember every detail of the medal ceremony.

Right after the ceremony came doping control – surprisingly fast this time, ten minutes. So I even had time to cheer for the juniors. And my dream day was complete.

All in all – the biggest credit for this win actually goes to that second place at the European Championships in Melgaço. After that, we dug deeper into training and made some changes. It paid off.

After the European Road Championships comes a deserved rest. Races continue next year in U23 category, where I’ll be for the next four years. And if moving into U19 felt like entering the first grade, this time I’m walking into high school – World Cup races, real competition.

When you know, you know.

Kolumna Maruše Tereze Šerkezi je bila ekskluzivno objavljena v reviji Bicikel, št. 126/2025 (str. 58–59). 👉 Ne zamudi celotne številke! Poišči revijo na prodajnih mestih ali naroči svoj izvod na www.bicikel.com.
Maruša Tereza Šerkezi’s column was published exclusively in Bicikel magazine, issue 126/2025 (pp. 58-59). 👉 Don’t miss the full issue! Find the magazine in stores or order your copy at www.bicikel.com.