Racing<\/p>\n
‘I have a dream that I really want to do well in the Ardennes\u2019<\/p>\n
October 13, 2025<\/p>\n
EF Education-Oatly is proud to add Danish rider Solbj\u00f8rk Anderson to the roster in 2026.<\/p>\n
Her top results include placing fifth on the general classification in the 2024 edition of the Volta a Catalunya Femenina and sixth at the GP Oetingen that year. This season, she finished third in the Danish road race national championships.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really proud to call cycling my profession,\u201d Solbj\u00f8rk said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m going to EF Education-Oatly. I felt like it will be a good match with who I am. This is a place where I can be myself. Not just as a rider, but me as a person. That\u2019s something I\u2019m quite proud of, of staying myself. I\u2019ve really just tried to be who I am. Getting to be both the individual and the rider I want to be is important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solbj\u00f8rk is only 21 but has been racing since she was nine years old; the youngest age Denmark allows riders to compete in licensed races.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents put on the TV when I was around four or five years old and it just happened to be a clip from I think the Vuelta,\u201d Solbj\u00f8rk said. \u201cYou know the atmosphere where the spectators are lining the roadside, the riders can only go through one by one, the pain on their faces, the smoke, and the people yelling. It looked amazing. I was just in front of this TV and I looked up at my dad and I told him I want to do this. My parents say it was love at first sight.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was seven, my parents got me my first bike,\u201d she continued. \u201cI started riding with my dad. A year after this, he looked into what clubs were around and I got a membership. I had to wait a bit before I was old enough to race and at nine I immediately started racing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solbj\u00f8rk has already spent two seasons racing in the WorldTour but she sees herself as still evolving, especially when it comes to her beloved classics.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs for the races that really suit me, it\u2019s probably the punchy races. I have a dream that I really want to do well in the Ardennes. I love Fl\u00e8che and Li\u00e8ge of course, but also Flanders. If I dream even bigger, I want to be one of those riders that can do a little bit of everything. I want to develop my whole plate, including being better in time trialing so I can do better in stage races. That is really what you should aim for as a rider if you want to be one of the best in the world. I\u2019m the kind of person who wants to do things 100 percent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
EF Education-Oatly general manager Esra Tromp was impressed by Solbj\u00f8rk\u2019s racing style and saw untapped potential in the Dane.<\/p>\n
\u201cSolbj\u00f8rk is young and chasing her first win,\u201d Esra said. \u201cShe needs some races where she can be deep in the finale to gain that experience. She has a good head on her shoulders and knows that greatness comes from getting all of the details right: positioning, fueling, recovering, communicating, and so on. We have the right people and the right tools to help Solbj\u00f8rk come into her own as a top racer and to discover her greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solbj\u00f8rk is confident that EF Education-Oatly is the ideal environment to help her level up her racing and that her mindset will serve her well.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy strength is that I never give up,\u201d Solbj\u00f8rk said. \u201cI\u2019m still figuring out what kind of rider I am. I don\u2019t have outstanding skills in positioning or sprinting or something very specific yet. I\u2019m still trying to learn that about myself and what I\u2019m good at and what I can do. I\u2019m on that journey of learning that about myself and I think the most important part of this journey is never giving up. There\u2019s no such thing as failing. It\u2019s just learning points and you keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solbj\u00f8rk has always been active. Growing up, she tried sports like soccer and swimming but none of them captured her heart. Around the same time she first saw cycling, she took up ballet and pursued it for the next several years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always thought ballet was really beautiful. My mom used to take me to the ballet in Copenhagen to watch Swan Lake. I was very fascinated by it. I was going to a lot of auditions for the Royal Danish Ballet because they\u2019re always looking for the next star but in the end, I realized I\u2019d be better off with cycling,\u201d Solbj\u00f8rk said.<\/p>\n
Off the bike, Solbj\u00f8rk has plenty to keep her busy. She loves to bake homemade cakes and share them with her friends. She often gets out her watercolors and paints sunsets, flowers, and other nature scenes, saying that her hobbies remind her that there is more to life than bike racing. Perhaps her favorite pastime of all is reading.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have always loved to read,\u201d she said. \u201cI have a million books in my apartment. I\u2019ve always enjoyed fantasy and crime. I really like to have an old fashioned paperback in my hands when I read but when I have to pack for a trip, I have two or maybe three books sometimes going on at the same time but then I have to pack all three books because I have only 50 pages left in this one and I have 100 pages in this one and then I overpack so much. This is really an issue for me!\u201d<\/p>\n
This off season, she plans to visit Paris on vacation with her boyfriend and may even pick up ballet again for the first time since childhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mentioned to Esra that during the winter season I would really love to take some ballet classes just to have a different sport activity to mix it up and she loved it! She said that would be so much fun. But it\u2019s been so many years since I did ballet! Maybe it\u2019s like riding a bike. If I try to go through it again maybe I can remember something but I am not that good at it any more!\u201d Solbj\u00f8rk laughed.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to 2026, Solbj\u00f8rk said, \u201cI\u2019m really excited for this new change and I think it\u2019s really going to be good for me. I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
We\u2019re looking forward to it, too! We can\u2019t wait to have you with us!<\/p>\n
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