Hola Johanna! Before we start to talk about cycling, can you quickly introduce yourself?

J.S.: Hi, my name is Johanna Solano López, I'm from Costa Rica, currently living in Costa Rica. I'm 34years old and work as a TV host, content creator, and speaker... a bit of everything!

And what is your sport background? Did you practice other sports than cycling?

J.S.: Honestly, for as far as I can remember, I’ve practiced some sport. My first love was football; Iplayed it for many years until my teenage years. I even played with a national junior team. I still enjoyit a lot, even if I don’t have the same endurance. It’s a very different sport in terms of physicaldemands and skills. I haven’t played it in years, but now I like to play just for fun!I started cycling thanks to triathlon, which I discovered like 13 or 14 years ago. I was a goodtriathlete because I was a good cyclist. Then I started to dedicate myself to the long distance, like half Ironman and full Ironman, because I realized that this long distance races gave me an advantagethanks my ability on the bike. When the pandemic and the lock downs started, I took refuge incycling. I did a lot of cycling on the home trainer and participated in online races on Zwift. This is when I realized that I was a pretty good cyclist. So, in 2020, I decided to dedicated myself 100% to be even better on the bike! I had some very successful seasons: I was National Road Champion, National TT Champion (Master category), and I also won many races in Costa Rica, both in road cycling and MTB. Because I forgot to mention that MTB is really my passion! I also went back to triathlon at some point, because doing only cycling sometimes get a bit boring for me. But it requires so much time, so much energy: you’realways hungry, always sleepy, you don’t have time to work, … That’s why today I’m focusing on cycling, whether it is road cycling or MTB.

I always say that I'm not going to wait to retire at 60-70 years old to start enjoying my life, if I can start enjoying it today!

You mentioned a very good point: cycling is a very time-consuming sport! So, how do you manage to balance this passion with your professional life?

J.S.: I’m so grateful to do a job that I love, and a job that allows me to have time for myself. The TVshows I generally host are recorded during the week-ends and they take me just a few hours. Samefor content creation: I work with brands and I have to respect deadlines, but I can freely manage myown schedule to find time for myself, which is very important for me, because having a healthylifestyle and mental health is crucial for me. I always say that I'm not going to wait to retire at 60-70years old
to start enjoying my life, if I can start enjoying it today! This is my philosophy. So, I generally keep the mornings for myself, to have time to slowly wake up, have a nice breakfast, do my training and relax.And all my professional activities are scheduled after lunch, during the afternoons and the evenings. I have found that it brings me a lot of peace of mind, it keeps me balanced, happy and motivated. This is how I distribute my training time!

Let’s now talk a bit more specifically about cycling: what’s the profile of race that you prefer? And how would you define your cycling style?

J.S.: Well, I would say that I’m pretty versatile. I consider myself as a climber, I like climbing in themountains. As I mentioned earlier, I also love MTB. I’m not the best MTB rider, but on the other hand,it helps me to be a good road cyclist. For example, I like to ride on technical routes and in the downhills.I’m not afraid at all and I’m even pretty good at it!

I think I’m also not bad on flat courses, because I've been a time trialist for many years.

Then you should enjoy Costa Rica and its mountains very much! Talking about that, what is the hardest climb that you ever done?

J.S.: In all my years of cycling, I had many difficult moments on the bike and not only in the steepest climbs! But I think the most difficult climb I have done is the “Alto de Letras”, in Colombia. It’slocated in the Andes Mountain and it’s known as one of the longest climbs in the world! The totaldistance is over 80km, with more than 3,800m of elevation gain. I remember the last 20km wereendless, very hard and without any rest.

So, you’re a climber … but are you a Strava’s QOM chaser? What’s your relation with this application?

J.S.: Actually, I didn’t want to download the application because I know I’m very competitive, and Ididn’t want my trainings to turn into a QOMs chase! But I gave into temptation like most of thecyclists. So, now I’m clearly a QOM chaser, and now I think it’s more important for me to upload mytraining activity first than to eat my breakfast!

You’re also a Tour de France fan. What are your favorites cyclists among the professional peloton?

J.S.: I’m a very big fan of Wout VAN AERT! He’s a very complete and combative cyclist, who’s always fighting, fighting, fighting, even if sometimes he doesn’t win. He shows lots of maturity and I love his spirit! Also, I love the sprinters!

In the female peloton, I like Demi VOLLERING, of course, who’s certainly the best at the moment. I’m very happy that she changed team because she joined my other favorite riders: Juliette LABOUS and Evita MUZIC. I think that all together, they’ll make an awesome team! I don’t know if the three will be on the Tour de France, but I’d love to!

The most valuable advice I can give to help them is to join a community. In the beginning, what’s generally hold us back is the fear of the unknown [...] All of these becomes easier when you are part of a community, and it also helps to keep discipline, learn how to train or where to train.

What advice would you give to someone who’s just starting cycling?

J.S.: I think that the most valuable advice I can give is to join a community. In the beginning, what’s generally holding us back is the fear of the unknown, like how the bike works, where to ride, what the best of safest routes are, etc. All of this becomes easier when you are part of a community, and it also helps to keep you disciplined. Sometimes it's just a little bit harder when you are on your own. I think that the best would be to look for a local community or a local team, that has experience, that is close from your home and where you can feel comfortable. And from there, believe me, everything will flow! You will find yourself motivated, you will learn things, and the most important thing: you will enjoy!

Let’s now talk about training: first, what bike do you ride? And why did you choose it?

J.S.: My bike is a Specialized Tarmac SL8. I like this bike because it’s a beautiful bike, I mean esthetically. But more than that, I really like the geometry. It’s an hybrid bike, light but also very fast. I had a Specialized Aethos for a brief period of time a couple of years ago, which is also a very good bike, especially for climbing. But I didn’t feel very comfortable going downhill or sprinting with it. But, with the Tarmac it’s perfect! I have the feeling that I can do everything, and I feel very confident going downhill. It fits to all the conditions that we have here in the country, and to all the different types of races. So, I know that’s the one bike for me! I already had the SL6, SL7, now the SL8 model, and I’ll continue for sure with the next ones.

It’s not a secret that nutrition represents a huge part of your performance. And it has to be mastered, it has to be understood, it has to be learned. And the most important: it has to be personalized.

But if the bike is a key factor of success, we know the nutrition is also key … What importance do you give to it?

J.S.: Well, it’s not a secret that nutrition represents a huge part of your performance. And it has to be mastered, it has to be understood, it has to be learned. And most importantly: it has to be personalized. Personally, I’m vegan, I made the transition 3 years ago. At the beginning, I was really scared because you hear many people saying that I won’t have enough protein, not enough energy, etc. But I decided not to listen to them and try, because it was what I really wanted to do. So, I tried, I adapted, and now I’m super happy with this change. I've got lots of energy and my workouts are even better now! I wish I had done it sooner. I didn’t have any issue with this diet change, but I’d still recommend to be supervised by a professional to avoid any nutrients deficiencies. I think it’s very important.

And of course, for all these nutrients to be properly absorbed, it takes a combination of several things: training, rest, sleep, ...

You seem to be very conscientious with your preparation! So, what about the preparation for L’Étape du Tour?

J.S.: I do a lot of races, but I generally choose 2 or 3 main ones per season. The other ones are much more like hard trainings. At this moment I’m not training very well because I’m still recovering from a knee injury that I had after a crash at a MTB race in South Africa. Of course, it forced me to adapt my training program, but I have a very good coach with whom I’m working for years now. So, we discussed together about L’Étape du Tour and we found an adapted training schedule for these weeks before the race. It will be a short preparation, but I have faith that the body is very wise. It won’t be my first time training fast or hard for an event, so I'll be ready.

I imagine that the general riders’ level will also be very high, both in the men and women categories, because there will be many Europeans who are used to these long climbs.

And what do you think about the route of L’Étape du Tour 2025, between Albertville and La Plagne?

J.S.: Oh, I think it will be quite hard and demanding! But of course, nothing that can’t be achievedwith good training and a strong mind. I imagine that the general riders’ level will also be very high,both in the men and women categories, because there will be many Europeans who are used to theselong climbs. As I explained, my preparation will be also very short after my injury, and even if I love toclimb, 4.500m of elevation remains very difficult. So, my expectations are very low, I’ll be very happyjust to finish! My plan will be to endure what can be endured, do my best and then finish!

Last year, you won L’Étape Costa Rica. Tell us more about it: how was your experience? What did you like about the race?

J.S.: It was a really hard race! I remember reaching the finish line totally empty, with no energy left!But I was also super happy with my result, because I actually had no expectations. So I had nothing tolose and I did what I never do during races: attacking without overthinking. In general, women’s racesare very strategic races, meaning that you just think about staying in the group and attack at the endof the climb. It’s maybe more conservative than on the men side. But here, I didn’t care so I attackedmany times! I kind of did everything I never have the permission to do in other races. It was very hard,exhausting, but also very fun! And in the end, we were all motivating each other, it was very cool! Itreally feels like a professional race. I think that's what I enjoyed the most!

So, do you plan to come back for the next edition on August, 10th?

J.S.: Yes, of course! I’ll try to come back every year!

I know that there are so many events in the Series [...] If I could race them all before retiring, it would be amazing!

Was it your first L’Étape Series event? When did you hear about the series for the first time?

J.S.: I knew about the series before, because I did L’Étape Costa Rica few years ago. Then, the event disappeared for few years before coming back in 2024. I also knew about the famous L’Étape du Tour in France! And now that I know that there are so many events in the Series, I would love to do more and more. If I could race them all before retiring, it would be amazing!

You can definitely feel it, feel the magic of this incredible race and feel like a pro for a day [...] L’Étape Series events are the only ones where you can really experience the Tour de France atmosphere.

That would a be great challenge, indeed! And why would you recommend joining a L’Étape Series event?

J.S.: First, for the quality of the organization that is one of the best you can find on a cycling event. Then, for the Tour de France atmosphere, of course! You can definitely feel it, feel the magic of this incredible race and feel like a pro for a day. Having the opportunity to win the official jerseys, for example, is something unique. No other race feels like this one. L’Étape Series events are the only ones where you can really experience the Tour de France atmosphere. So, I think there is no more explanations needed!

Muchas gracias Johanna, and see you in Albertville!

Follow Johanna's journey to L'Étape du Tour!

johasolano Johanna Solano