After finishing eighth in the final stage of the Giro d'Italia Women, Smulders is about to begin the Tour de France Femmes with her eye on some of the hillier stages. While recovering from the Giro in Calpe, Spain with her parents, she took the time to hop on the phone with Escape Collective to talk about her path to this point and where she plans to ride next.
Abby Mickey: Thanks for your time. I hope the two weeks between the Giro and the Tour have been restful.
Silke Smulders: Yeah, that's also why I'm now here, because my parents are here on holiday, so I get to chill here a bit in Spain. So it's not too bad.
AM: I heard you ride with your mom a lot.
SS: Yeah, with my mom and my dad, they also really like to ride their bikes, like tourist level, but I really like to go with them on the coffee rides. We can do that together. I think it's really nice. My mom is fitter than my dad. I love that.
AM: Is that how you got started in cycling?
SS: Yeah, definitely, because always on holidays we were riding our bikes in Italy or France, just to explore and be outside, like walking or cycling. From a young age, we've always been riding bikes with the family, so I think that's how I got into it. Then I did speed skating, and we rode our race bikes in the summer for training for the winter. I was quite good at it, and I liked it a lot. So then I joined the local cycling club, and that's how I started with racing.
AM: A really traditional Dutch pathway. I love how many Dutch speed skaters turn cyclists.
SS: Yeah, there are a lot of ... every city has their speed skating track. I think even more than cycling; it's more popular.
AM: What was the process of signing for [Liv AlUla Jayco] and the conversations around what your role would be on the team? And how has that changed in the years that you've been riding for the team?
SS: I think I've always been quite good at harder races, so hilly races and Classics. I think also I'm used to riding in a peloton and positioning, so I think then it's natural [to be] better at that. That was where I was most comfortable. That was more my role.
You also start more as a support rider when you're a bit younger and getting into it. I think it's just also about the first years, exploring yourself and getting stronger all around, because I don't see myself yet as a pure climber, but I think I just got, also in general, a lot stronger.
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