The Luxembourgish time trial champion raced to her first professional road win this summer at the Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic and is looking forward to building her strength and skills with her friends on the squad. With EF Education-Oatly, Nina can be herself as she comes into her own.

“I think most people look at our team and go, ‘that looks like a super fun team – everyone’s happy and racing for each other,’” Nina said. “And I can tell you it’s like that from the inside too. We have a lot of fun and try to keep the vibes high, and in the end you can see it works: if the riders feel comfortable, have fun together, and believe in each other, you can hurt yourself much more for your teammates, and they can for you. That’s the nice thing – we just try to race, and have fun doing it.”

Racing hard and having fun is paying off. Nina stunned some of the biggest names in the peloton with her long winning sprint at the Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic after a brutal day of racing on the Breton coast. Next year, she will race time trials in her national colors as Luxembourg champion. Over the past two years with EF Education-Oatly, Nina proved herself as a tough, dependable teammate in the hardest races, from her favorite classics to the Tour de France. She is excited to see what’s next.

“I was always a bit of a slow developer,” she said. “The last few years were a lot of patience, waiting and waiting. I was happy that last year it finally clicked and I got my first real professional victory on the road – that was pretty sick. I feel like I’ve progressed a lot in all areas and I’m happy to see there’s still a lot of room to grow, that I’m steadily progressing, and that the team gives me the chance to do it without any rushing, racing the way I like, being aggressive. I think that helps me grow a lot.”

Going into her third season with the squad, Nina is still developing as a racer. She draws lessons every time she crosses a finish line and stays focused on her own road.

“The biggest lesson is to do your own thing and not care too much about what everyone else is doing – not to compare yourself too much to others, because everyone has a different path, different qualities, and needs different things,” she said. “You have to find your own way, and even if other people think what you’re doing is weird, you don’t need to care. Do it with passion and joy, trust the process, and trust the people who care about you. I’m getting stronger every year and making a little step each time. Over the years I’ve learned a lot and become more mature, so I know better when I can be relaxed and when I have to be alert. There’s a lot of mental stuff in a race – feeling when you need to be awake, and trusting your intuition more.”

EF Education-Oatly general manager Esra Tromp is proud of the progress that Nina has made and optimistic about the years ahead.

“Over the past two years with the team, we’ve seen a big shift from Nina,” Esra said. “She joined us really fresh and young, and she’s grown a lot. We know her much better than we did when she arrived, and extending the contract felt like a good decision from both sides – because of all the experience we’ve had with her and how well we know her now. I was really happy to see her win her race last year for the team. That gave everybody a lot of confidence. We’d seen that she could do it in what she produced in training, but doing it in a race was proof, and I hope she takes that with her through the winter and we see it in the spring especially — and of course in some really great classics and grand tours in the seasons to come.”

Nina might not know where her limits lie, but she does know what kind of racer she wants to be.

“I want to be a rider who’s fun to watch – and fun for me to race, too,” she said, “so aggressive, a bit of a breakaway rider, but also good in the hard races, the classics. That’s what I love. I just want to find out where I can go and which races I can win. I want to go as far as possible, show that in the races, and have fun on my bike – and then the results will follow, with the team.”

There is no other squad for whom Nina would rather ride. She is already a linchpin for EF Education-Oatly, and with two more years with the team guaranteed, she is looking forward to a lot more laughs and smiles on the road as well as a lot of hard racing.

“The Tour this year was pretty amazing – I saw how strong the team was together, we had so much fun, and it was just a super epic race. At the other races too: the recons in the classics, the buildup, the RaceTV stuff – the vibe around the races is so relaxed. You know when to be professional and switch your brain on and focus, but you’re not overly focused. It’s just the right balance for your head.”

We’re so glad to have you on the team, Nina. Lass!