Anna Plichta to defend Polish national TT title today

Today is a day that Anna Plichta (29) has long before marked in her agenda: she can win the Polish national time trial title for the third consecutive time and that could give her a spot in the Polish selection for the Olympics in Tokyo this summer!

โ€œI have been working really hard towards this goalโ€, starts Anna Plichta. โ€œI am feeling good and I hope it will be enough to defend the jersey. This year Iโ€™m coaching myself, which is challenging, but I have been following a similar preparation as I did last year for the national and the European Championships. I have also been creating the effect of altitude training camp by sleeping in a hypoxic room when I was in Poland last month and afterwards I slept in an altitude tent for another ten days when I was back in Belgium. In total I slept โ€˜on altitudeโ€™ for over three weeks. I finished this period twelve days ago, so normally I should be able to optimally benefit from it now.โ€

โ€œI had a bike fit this spring and I also did some aero testing on the track. That was very interesting and I am sure this will also give me an advantage. My position was adapted a little bit. My saddle has been moved to the back and my handlebars were set lower than before. I hope these details will make the differenceโ€, says Plichta.

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Anna Plichta tells us more about todayโ€™s course: โ€œThe course is quite hard actually. Itโ€™s a time trial of 23.4 kilometres long. The first part is very undulating. And it will be pretty windy, so itโ€™s going to be crucial to divide your powers and to save enough energy for the last 10 kilometres. On top of that it will be very hot, but I prefer this to the colder temperatures that we sometimes have in the spring races.โ€

โ€œIn a time trial itโ€™s all about your own speed and your own power. All you can do is to be at your best yourself, so I donโ€™t look at the competition. I wonโ€™t go early to the race, because I like to get in the zone and only focus on myself. Today is not only about the national title, but itโ€™s also important for the Olympic selection. Poland can select two riders for the road race and one of them will also ride the time trial. I need to prove today that I deserve my place in the selection. I am sure that my Ridley bike with the Polish colours will bring me good luck and give me extra motivationโ€, concludes Plichta.

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Mathew Mitchell
Mathew Mitchellhttp://procyclinguk.com
My name is Mathew Mitchell, 30-something from Staffordshire, UK. Over the last few years, I've got more and more into cycling, from the first innocent Sportive events to Audaxes, Go-Races, British Cycling racing, Time Trials and now Cyclocross.

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