Take 5; Nicky van Wordrager-Hubers
After two serious injuries, Nicky van Wordrageren-Hubers was back behind the starting gate at the end of last month. We look back on a difficult period in her career and look ahead to 2019.
MXMag: You were injured during the last WMX Grand Prix of 2017 in Assen. You worked really hard on your entrance, but it didn't go as planned. Things went wrong again during the first GP of 2018 in Italy. You look back on 2018 very sadly, I assume?
NV: “Yes, I can't really say that luck was on my side at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018. Assen's injury was very difficult mentally, mainly because I couldn't do anything about it myself. In addition, this recovery also took longer than expected, so I had only been riding for the first WMX for three months. The speed just started to come back a bit and then came that super stupid start crash in Italy. Bad luck and a wrong fall. I immediately felt a severe pain, but after a minute it was almost over and I really thought “am I such a poser?!”. I picked up the bike and went back onto the track, but it soon became apparent that something was seriously wrong. At the slightest thing, it felt like my knee was completely dislocated. At such a moment you really feel like the world is collapsing. AGAIN everything was done for nothing. A lot of things go through your head and it feels so unfair. Fortunately, I was able to end 2018 on a positive note in Rosmalen.”
MXMag: You are the mother of a son, did he get you through that tough period? He knew how to prevent you from getting bored!
NV: It was difficult at first because I had to walk with crutches. I couldn't lift him or keep up with walking, so that regularly caused challenges haha. I also had a lot of support from two girls (Joanna Miller & Sandra Karlsson) who also tore their cruciate ligament in Trentino. We had our operations within the same month and had a lot of contact via app. Our physiotherapists will not always have been happy with this because we obviously did not want to be inferior to each other with the rehabilitation and if one could do something and the other could not... Well, you know what happens then haha!”
MXMag: The ladies have had increasingly better competitions in recent years. The WMX is going well, but the number of participants in the EMX is minimal and the MON Women's Class is also declining rapidly. The KNMV doesn't even have its own women's competition anymore. How did that happen?
NV: “The level of the WMX is high and the number of participants is certainly considerable. We would have also wanted to ride the EMX in 2018, but of course this turned out differently. The EMX calendar is really not feasible for 2019 and certainly not in combination with the WMX calendar. The competitions are in far too short a period, so it simply cannot be combined with work. I can imagine that more people will encounter this problem and that EMX will not be busy. A women's competition at national level is not easy. Of course, all in all there are more than 20 girls who race in the Netherlands. However, it is spread throughout the Netherlands and the differences in level are enormous. Many girls from the women's class at the MON that we had at the time dropped out. This not only thinned out the class, but also lowered the level. For me, the women's class was simply not an ideal class for training for the World Cup. But I also understand that they cannot do 20+2 for a women's class with 15 riders. And that there are also many girls who are not looking forward to this at all. The only option to create a nice and interesting women's class in the Netherlands is with the Dutch masters at a global / international level. Sometime in 2010, if I remember correctly, the KNMV had this (then still ONK) with €2 prize money per point and an accessible entry point for foreigners in terms of license costs (own international license was sufficient). We had at least 20 girls in each match. We rode 20+2 and the level was good. Getting something like that back in the Netherlands would be great because no matter how hard we girls train and how well we can drive... we remain girls. We will simply never reach the level of the men at the Dutch Masters of Motocross.”
MXMag: What does your schedule look like in 2019?
NV: “Number 1 is the WMX competitions. The plan is to ride the full calendar. After the successful weekend of Rosmalen, I may also participate in the Supercross of Goes in early 2019. Furthermore, most calendars are still unknown and we do not yet have a fixed plan. In addition, there is something else running via the KNMV, but that is still very early so I will not elaborate further on this yet haha. If this takes shape, I will let you know ;-).
MXMag: What is your goal for 2019, when will this season be a success?
NV: “I had a very clear objective for this. I wanted to ride podiums in Assen and as many top fives as possible at the other races with outliers towards the podium. Now I find it difficult. Of course I still want this. Podium in Valkenswaard... top five riding... but after being out for a year it is so difficult to estimate where you stand. However, it is beyond my honor to say “if I don't get injured this season, my season will be a success” because I know myself and know that if I don't get further than the top ten places, then my season will not be a success. 2018 has certainly made me more careful because not achieving or being able to achieve goals hurts. Let's hope that 2019 will bring me more success and that I can realize my 2018 goals!”
By: Steven van Kempen/KEMCO
Photo: #HuubMunsters
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