When she arrived in Paris for what might have been the most intense race of the year, the pressure was off for Julie Derron.
She faced the strongest start list of the year at the Olympic Test Event, a race that held plenty of significance for the Olympic aspirations of many. Moreover she would be making her first start over the Olympic distance in 2023.
Yet Derron was equanimous.
To start with, she had the chance of Olympic qualification without the race being totally deterministic.
“For us Swiss, it wasn’t an automatic selection,” she explained, “it was like just another WTCS race.”
To qualify for the Games, Derron needed two top-8 finishes at WTCS races. Her first had come only a couple of weeks earlier in Sunderland. Although, that result was somewhat surprising after injury derailed the first half of her season.
“This year, because of my injury, I’m really enjoying the races and not trying to put too much pressure on myself. I couldn’t race for so long so I’m just happy to race again.”
Her setback occurred in February.
“I actually had a stress fracture about three weeks before I was supposed to race in Abu Dhabi,” said Derron. “After that I didn’t run for about two and a half months.”
While she convalesced, Derron had to watch as the season got underway and her teammates and rivals alike started their campaigns. Initial return targets like the European Championships and European Games came and went and still Derron remained in recovery.
“It’s always hard, especially when you see others racing and getting good results and then there’s the pressure of qualifying for the Olympics. We kept postponing my return to racing and I was getting a bit antsy.”
She nonetheless followed the sport as a fan in her months out. In addition, at the beginning of the year, she was able to devote her energies to finishing her masters. Her thesis centred on a survey on Swiss apple farmers and their risk perceptions and risk preferences. In a way, Derron almost faced a parallel with the risk management of her return to racing.
Rather than taking any chances on an early comeback, Derron and her team erred on the side of caution.
“In hindsight it is always easy to say but I think it was the right decision to wait.”
Once finally ready, she took on two small races in Switzerland and then stepped up to the international arena at the World Mixed Team Relay Championships in Hamburg.
Derron told her federation that she “was not yet ready to race the Super Sprint World Championships in Hamburg but I would be available to do the relay.” That decision paid off handsomely as a fresh Derron helped the team to 3rd place.
Next came Sunderland. At her first individual race on the world stage in 2023 she came away with 7th place, a personal best WTCS finish. Her previous best performance had been a 9th place at WTCS Leeds in 2022. As a World Cup winner, Derron has been knocking at the door of a big result. To do so on her injury comeback, though, came a little out of the blue.
“I think my run surprised me most there,” she said. “I’m really with happy with how it went. I tried not to have too many expectations.”
When she arrived in Paris, then, Derron had no expectations, however Hamburg and Sunderland hinted that something big awaited.
“Before the race I told myself I’ll be happy with a top-15. Then on the run I was actually in 12th or 11th and I thought I was doing a good job. On the last lap I saw the girls coming back to me.”
In the end she claimed 8th place. In her two races back, she therefore sealed the two top-8 WTCS finishes and in doing so effectively locked in her place on the Swiss Olympic team.
Now almost certain to return next year at the Olympic Games, Derron is able to reflect on what she took away from the course.
“It was pretty hectic on the bike for us because we were quite a big group,” she said. “I expected the course – and especially the bike – to be more challenging but it was actually quite straightforward and not too technical. There were some turns but it wasn’t enough to split the group. Also, because we were riding quite quickly, to break away you would have had to attack really hard. To get away was quite difficult and there were not too many technical bits to make a big difference.”
Derron also noted that the famed pavé were better to ride on than anticipated. At the same time, the pavé played a role on the run, particularly over the latter stages as they took their toll.
“It is a course you have to be strong on,” she noted.
After watching from the sidelines, then, Derron has had a near-perfect comeback. A relay medal, a personal best finish and an Olympic slot are tough to top. With further races to come, she will have plenty of chances to continue her upward trajectory.
This weekend she will tackle a half ironman before moving on to the Karlovy Vary World Cup. As a superb cyclist, Karlovy Vary’s hilly course should be right up her street.
The WTCS Final in Pontevedra will follow where a potential third consecutive top-8 finish could be on the cards. Thereafter, she will head to China for the first time.
Her coach, Brett Sutton is the Chinese national coach, so Derron will make the journey to train under his supervision. She will also have the chance to take on the Asian swing of World Cups, starting with the race in Chengdu, to get more races in and to collect more points.
Even after the past six weeks, though, Derron remains level-headed about what is to come.
“I’ll take the races that go well and if there’s one that doesn’t go well I’ve had some pretty good races so far and that’s sport.”
With the pressure off, Derron seems primed to extend her successful summer. If her recent form has been anything to go by, she could produce some fireworks in her final races of the season.
