What a year for Orillia, Ont., native Isabella Holmgren! After an incredible year in 2023, where she won both the MTB and ‘cross world championships, she and her sister Ava were signed to the WorldTour team Lidl-Trek.
“Lidl-Trek is keeping its sights firmly fixed on the future with three young signings to the women’s squad,” the team said when announcing the news. “The Holmgren twins are serial winners in cyclocross and XC. They frequently traded between first and second places over the cyclocross season: Isabella took the junior world and national titles, while Ava took the elite national title, Trek CX Cup, as well as silver in the junior world champs.”
After racing a full ‘cross season—culminating in an impressive 4th place after clawing her way back from 20th at the world under-23 champs—one more lap and she most likely would have taken the bronze.
Mixing road and MTB
She and her sister would juggle pro road races along with MTB, with great success. Ava scored a big result early in the season, taking second in the final stage of the Tour de Normandie on Sunday.
Bella went on to have several big wins in the dirt at World Cups in Italy and France. She also ultimately secured a berth to the Paris 2024 Olympics—a huge achievement for a first-year elite.
Both Holmgrens returned to Canada for the national road championships. Although they had been racing primarily mountain bikes leading up to it, they had impressive results: Ava took second in the ITT, with Bella in third in the under-23 category. In the road race, Ava took another silver.
The incredible ride at the Tour de l’Avenir
As the season continued, Bella scored some big results. The Tour de l’Avenir, often seen as a younger sibling to the Tour de France, has launched many future stars. Winners include Miguel Induráin (1986), who secured five Tour de France titles from 1991 to 1995, and Laurent Fignon (1982), who won the Tour in 1983 and 1984. Nairo Quintana (2010) and Egan Bernal (2017) also achieved Grand Tour success—Quintana with the Giro d’Italia (2014) and Vuelta a España (2016), and Bernal at the Tour de France (2019). None other than Tadej Pogačar won in 2018.
The Tour de l’Avenir Femmes, a new addition to the under-23 calendar, held its first edition in 2023. The four-day race includes a prologue and three road stages. Although she almost didn’t race the Tour of the Future—she was second alternate…
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