Tanja Erath had a whirlwind experience in her first season in the professional peloton after winning the Zwift Academy Women last December to earn a contract with Canyon-SRAM in 2018. A practicing doctor when she won the contract, Erath moved from her home in Germany to a cycling hotbed in Girona and quickly proved her strength within the team at world-class races, which has all led to a contract renewal for 2019.
"I signed with Canyon-SRAM for 2019 because it gives me the opportunity to live my dream of racing bikes," Erath said in a recent team announcement. "I'm with, in my opinion, the best women's cycling team in the world. I hope to start the season next year on a higher level than I will finish it this season. I'm keen to learn more, to improve my performances, to be more relaxed, especially in race situations, just to be the best rider that I can be. I'm not there yet and it's what I'm aiming for."
Erath admitted that she had to undertake a sharp learning curve to compete in a full season of top-level women's racing, and that at times there were challenges with adjusting to the new lifestyle of a professional athlete, learning the ropes of bike racing, and handling the physical demands.
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"This first year was an emotional and physical up and down," Erath said. "I'm glad there were more ups than downs. A new living situation, a new career. It's hard to describe the mixture of emotions. I would go between happiness, guilt, gratitude, fear, excitement, doubts... and many more. I'm still not sure, even now, that I have processed everything that has happened so far this year."
In her first season with the UCI Women's Team, Erath competed in a full range of one-day and stage races, including the Healthy Ageing Tour, Tour de Yorkshire, Tour of California Women's Race, Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour, La Course, RideLondon, Vågardå, Lotto Belgium Tour and Tour de l'Ardeche.
"Whenever she was given a job to do during a race, Tanja was able to fulfil it to the best of her knowledge and skills, but even more impressive was her being able to work with the input she received afterwards, to do an even better job the next time. We saw this happen time after time throughout the season," team manager Ronny Lauke said of re-signing Erath to the 2019 roster.
A day in the life of Dr. Erath
The pro cyclist
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