{"id":11715,"title":"Karen Ramakers, Sven Nys's Team Manager","description":"Meet Karen Ramakers, the manager of Sven Nys's Baloise Trek Lions cyclocross team","content":"

Published in<\/strong>: CYCLOCROSS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

If Sven Nys is a lion of cyclocross then surely Karen Ramakers is a lioness. If you don't follow cyclocross closely you may not be familiar with her name. The UCI lists her as the Assistant Team Manager of the Baloise Trek Lions cyclocross team. Her role, however, is much more than that.<\/p>

We sat down with Karen to find out what it's like to be at the centre of the Lions' den.\"\" Image: Karen Ramakers, Team Baloise Trek Lions<\/em> At the heart of the Lions' den - Herentals 2020<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Ten years of surprises<\/h3>

Karen's mission is to ensure that all non-performance aspects of the cyclocross team run smoothly. Success for her means that sponsors, team partners and riders are all happy. For the riders, this ensures that all they have to worry about is training, racing and sleeping.<\/p>

The reality is that each working day is different and quite often doesn't end up as she had planned. A day might include planning staff rotas, meeting with sponsors or ensuring payments have been made correctly.<\/p>

Team trucks need to be booked in for servicing, MOTs and signage refreshed when sponsors change. Then there are ambassador sessions to arrange. Booking in riders to meet dignitaries and VIPs whilst ensuring minimal impact upon their training schedules.<\/p>

Karen has performed the role for the last ten years with the only constant that every day is different and full of surprises. Her enthusiasm for the job and her loyalty to the Lions Team are infectious. If I wasn't a fan of Baloise Trek Lions before we met (I was), I certainly would be afterwards.<\/p>

After all, since team rider Lars van der Haar married double world champion Lucy Garner, we've been able to claim him as half-British.\"\"Image: Karen Ramakers, Team Baloise Trek Lions<\/em> Karen with Sven's son Thibau Nys<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Team Lion family<\/h3>

Karen frequently refers to the team as the \"Lion family\". Building a close-knit team is critical to success both on the 'veld' and off. Karen performs a critical role in helping to create and maintain close bonds between riders and the team's helpers.<\/p>

Although Sven Nys identifies possible new riders and can assess their potential just by watching them ride, Karen has to ensure that they will be a good fit for the family.<\/p>

She meets new recruits and establishes whether their personality and ambitions are a good match, not only with existing riders but also with sponsors and the Lion brand. The views of current riders are sought to ensure there are unlikely to be conflicts.<\/p>

The tight bond of the team has grown even stronger with the impact of the Covid crisis. The absence of fans, family and VIPs has meant the team has played an even bigger part in the lives of the riders. Limited physical contact, as it has been for so many, has been replaced by digital channels of communication.<\/p>

Karen's view is that this has led to the team becoming even closer and has heightened the roller-coaster of emotions. The mixed feelings of success, happiness, disappointment and sadness have been exacerbated and more keenly felt within their small group.\"\" Image: Karen Ramakers, Team Baloise Trek Lions<\/em> Karen with Lucina Brand<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

The lioness roars<\/h3>

Lucinda Brand's world championship cyclocross win demonstrates how important the team members are to Karen and the emotions she shares with them.<\/p>

Listen carefully to coverage of the race (Available to GCN subscribers<\/a>) as Lucinda Brand crosses the line, her arms aloft. You can hear several off-screen guttural shrieks.<\/p>

The roar of a Lioness? Perhaps. It's an exhalation of emotion from Karen. Relief that Lucinda Brand had achieved the success she deserved, coupled with the additional stresses placed on all by the constant threat of Covid.<\/p>

We discussed Lucinda's 'coming of age season' and her 'growth' as a cyclocross rider. Sven Nys has, unsurprisingly, been instrumental in her improvement. He's been coaching his cyclocross star directly on a one-to-one basis. The absence of a road season due to Covid enabled them to focus on Lucinda Brand's cyclocross skills. Over and over again they worked on her CX technique with repeated drills.<\/p>

Karen is quick to praise Lucinda's commitment and her preparedness to listen and learn. Course recces with Sven Nys have also helped. The week before the world cyclocross championships at Overijse she missed out on a course recce with Sven and could 'only' finish second.<\/p>

Lucinda was insistent that Sven ride the championship's Koksijde course with her. It was noticeable that during the race she took different lines from others and ran parts that others rode. Perhaps this was the difference in the final lap where she raced neck and neck with Annmarie Worst.\"\"Image: Karen Ramakers, Team Baloise Trek Lions <\/em>World cyclocross champion Lucinda Brand<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

What was not known so well, outside of the team, was that Lucinda was caring for her parents who were both in poor health. She had balanced her training, racing and caring duties throughout the season.<\/p>

At times, Karen and the rest of the Lions were concerned that Lucinda would 'break' with the additional pressure. A testament to Lucinda's mental strength and the support from her team that she enjoyed such success.<\/p>

Other highlights for Karen include Toon Aerts's wins at the 2019 Belgian national cyclocross championships and the UCI Cyclocross World Cup at Waterloo, USA.<\/p>

Leading up to the 2019 national championships, held on the banks of the river Scheldt, Toon Aerts kept messaging the team with more and more smiley faces. He liked the course which featured lots of muddy off-camber sections. Following an epic duel with Wout Van Aert, he came home nearly a minute clear to take his maiden elite national cyclocross championships.<\/p>

Earlier the same season, Toon Aerts had already bested Wout van Aert at the UCI World Cup held at Waterloo. Not only was it Toon's first Cyclocross World Cup win but the race was held on the doorstep of the team sponsor's Trek factory.\"\" Image: Karen Ramakers, Team Baloise Trek Lions <\/em>One family at Oostmalle 2021<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Ellen Van Loy<\/h3>

The closeness Karen feels to team members means that she feels a sense of loss when riders and other team personnel leave. No more so than Ellen Van Looy. Ellen had been a member of the Lions' teams since 2013. The mutual affection is clear in interviews given by Ellen van Looy and Karen's description of working with her.<\/p>

Throughout her career with the Lions, Ellen van Looy continued to work as the carer of adults with Downs Syndrome. I had always assumed this was for economic reasons but apparently Ellen had been adamant that she would keep working with vulnerable adults.<\/p>

Her dual role has made Ellen van Looy extremely popular in her native Belgium. Ellen has now moved on to the Team Vondelmolen-De Ceuster for the 2021-22 season to act as rider, coach and mentor.<\/p>

Belgium's female cyclocrossers<\/h3>

I was keen to get Karen's views on Belgium's women cyclists, particularly their cyclocross riders. Followers of the sport will know that Dutch women dominate on the road and in the field. With Ellen Van Looy's career soon to come to a close and Sanne Cant now in her thirties, where will the next generation of Belgian female cyclocross champions come from?<\/p>

Apparently, the Dutch have a very strong club structure that encourages and promotes young female cyclists. This has been missing from Belgian cycling. Cycling Vlaanderen has 3,300 boys registered between the age of 8 and 18, compared to 150 girls. It's a surprising disparity compared to the UK where there is much greater equality between the sexes.\"\" Image: Karen Ramakers, Team Baloise Trek Lions<\/em><\/p>

Karen tells me that both the Belgian cycling federations (being Belgium there are two - Flanders and Wallonia) and the Sven Nys Cycling Centre<\/a> are trying to overcome this. At the first youth camp at Sven's centre, 95% of the attendees were boys. For the next camp, they introduced a girls-only day and over 100 girls attended.<\/p>

The Flemish cycling federation has introduced the 'Zij aan Zij' (She and She) campaign with the aim of helping and encouraging female participation in cycle sport.<\/p>

I asked Karen what had changed the most over the ten years of working with the Lions. She cites the change in race timings and TV coverage for the women's races as having the greatest impact. Originally the women's races were run before the U23 men's when hardly any spectators had arrived at the course.<\/p>

These changes have seen a surge in interest and audience for women's cyclocross and a consequential increase in the level of sponsorship. Karen now believes that top female riders can earn more money at cyclocross than on the road.\"\" Image: Karen Ramakers, Team Baloise Trek Lions <\/em>Baal - home of the Sven Nys Cycling Centre<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

How do you get a dream job?<\/h3>

Karen's job sounds like a dream for any cyclocross fan. Has she always been an enthusiast of the sport? Not really, comes the surprising reply. She has a bike, which just happens to be a Lucinda Brand 'hand me down', that she rides on the trails near her home. But she has no intention of racing.<\/p>

She grew up in a very sporty family. Tennis and other sports were always on the TV, and she was keen to become a sports journalist. Armed with a Master's degree in Communication and Media Studies from the University of Leuven, she took up an internship as a sports journalist.<\/p>

Her moment of revelation occurred when she attended a major tennis tournament as a journalist. She decided on the spot that she didn't want to be an outsider as a journalist, but an insider on a team.<\/p>

Her next job was working in a communications and events role in an industry she had little passion for. Karen and I were a bit confused about the translation, despite her perfect English. Suffice it to say it didn't inspire her. Let's just say it was a Payroll provider.\"\"Image: Karen Ramakers, Team Baloise Trek Lions <\/em>The Baloise Trek Lioness<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

She kept writing to sports teams, hoping one would offer her a job. Eventually, the owner of the Telnet-Fidea team Hans van Kasteren offered her a role within his team. Karen has been with the team ever since, as it has evolved following the takeover by Sven Nys in 2016.<\/p>

Plane sailing<\/h3>

As always, I ask for a funny memory. It wasn't funny at the time but now Karen can laugh about it. The 2019 World Cyclocross championships were held in tiny Bogense, Denmark (population 3,900). Karen had charted a flight from Brussels to the local airport. Sitting in the plane at Brussels airport were 140 excited and happy family members, sponsors and other VIPs. There was a party atmosphere. This was the culmination of six months of planning by Karen to ensure everything ran smoothly.<\/p>

First, Karen noticed that the aircrew appeared nervous. Personally, I long ago decided that the aircrew were a good bellwether of whether I should be concerned when flying. The plane had not yet, however, left the ground. Eventually, Karen was summoned to the cockpit. \"Brussels we have a problem!\".<\/p>

It transpired, that despite the charter company assuring her that all would be OK, the airport near Bogense was too small and provincial to appear on the equivalent of flight Sat-Nav. With 140 happy and excited passengers onboard, Karen had to make alternative arrangements fast. Like a swan. Serene to all the passengers. Karen was paddling like fury below water.<\/p>

Eventually, all of the guests arrived in Bogense via alternative arrangements that Karen managed to resolve on the move. Today, if any issues arise, no matter how serious, the team always refer to Bogense. No matter what the problem is, Karen will \"sort it\".<\/p>

My sincere thanks to Karen for her time and help.<\/p>

Tim Costello, 17 June 2021.<\/p>

\"grrbpemyywmusal5merxugim70nijvc2vqzqxpkx6vlx83lu.jpg\"<\/p>

Never Miss Out<\/strong><\/h3>

Subscribe<\/a>\u00a0to get all our latest stories and news. We won't bombard you with special offers. We don't want to send you junk as much as you don't want to receive it.<\/p>

\"e4csubwckhg8szzln5ubes5dpwxwl5bey21wrlfbncih5zeg.jpg\"<\/u><\/a><\/p>

More Cyclocross<\/h3>

\"q3yzipk5u4jhbaz5gttbjrpkn6cdvjqcnuxnrbejdjcsqqze.jpg\"<\/u><\/a>\"amaksduv64whlgj61rpjiixziyg6ttzteq6yak0x9onxd6in.jpg\"<\/u><\/a><\/p>","urlTitle":"karen-ramakers","url":"\/blog\/karen-ramakers\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/karen-ramakers\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/rijden.uk\/blog\/karen-ramakers\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1623228824,"updatedAt":1704837222,"publishedAt":1704837222,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":61205,"name":"Rijden_2"},"tags":[{"id":1160,"code":"cyclocross","name":"Cyclocross","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/cyclocross\/"},{"id":2228,"code":"interviews","name":"Interviews","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/interviews\/"}],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/yljkr0b2hfchrl2glq3h3lt5wtvvyep67uykyljvlh4bxdao.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/yljkr0b2hfchrl2glq3h3lt5wtvvyep67uykyljvlh4bxdao.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/yljkr0b2hfchrl2glq3h3lt5wtvvyep67uykyljvlh4bxdao.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"Karen Ramakers, Sven Nys's Team Manager | Rijden","metaDescription":"Meet Karen Ramakers, the manager of Sven Nys's Baloise Trek Lions cyclocross team who keeps the team roaring to success.","keyPhraseCampaignId":35874,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":10415,"title":"Balint Hamvas, top cyclocross photographer","url":"\/blog\/the-impressionist-balint-hamvas\/","urlTitle":"the-impressionist-balint-hamvas","division":61205,"description":"We caught up with top cyclocross photographer Balint Hamvas. During an enjoyable interview, he told me about freezing in the Alps, travelling by e-bike and how he faked his way into professional photography.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/hed6ed0xd68xvkqekrz04yqhwthnw7fc8apax9eqpyodq9c1.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/hed6ed0xd68xvkqekrz04yqhwthnw7fc8apax9eqpyodq9c1.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":10567,"title":"Ian Field part one","url":"\/blog\/ian-field-part-one\/","urlTitle":"ian-field-part-one","division":61205,"description":"Cyclocross professional turned CX coach Ian Field gives the low down on what it takes to live and race cyclocross in Belgium. Part one: \"Come home when you're broke\".","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/z0esxhm8ptynkd2ccmx2d0j6vhz1ahl1o7kheqjmiwaqppei.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/z0esxhm8ptynkd2ccmx2d0j6vhz1ahl1o7kheqjmiwaqppei.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":10597,"title":"Ian Field, multiple cyclocross champion part two","url":"\/blog\/ian-field-part-2\/","urlTitle":"ian-field-part-2","division":61205,"description":"Cyclocross professional turned CX coach Ian Field continues his tale of living and racing cyclocross in Belgium.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ow36svb5jriv2vpimfugw8badnngxxynpxsy14eymngsr9z5.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ow36svb5jriv2vpimfugw8badnngxxynpxsy14eymngsr9z5.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}