![\"Kristen](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2167251616.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAfter struggling with burnout and being sidelined with injury, the US and double Olympic champion believes she\u2019s back at her best.<\/p>\n
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Faulkner at the 2024 Tour de France Femmes (Photo: Alex Broadway\/Getty Images))<\/p>\n
Updated April 3, 2026 06:37AM<\/p>\n
Kristen Faulkner<\/a> is so back.<\/p>\n The U.S. and double Olympic champion will race with her EF Education-Oatly team for the first time in seven months at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.<\/p>\n After a 2025 that guttered with burnout and was snuffed out on the pavement of the Tour de France Femmes<\/a>, the 33-year-old believes this could be a big opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the Olympics [in 2024] everything was so busy, \u00a0and I didn\u2019t take a proper offseason. I was doing a lot of speaking and media events. The adrenaline was high. I was traveling a lot,\u201d Faulkner said Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I went into 2025 a bit burnt out before the season even started. It was my worst year of racing in Europe,\u201d she said in a team note.<\/p>\n It seems that a long layoff recovering from a torn labrum might have been a blessing in disguise for \u201cArctic Faulks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis offseason was the break that I needed all along,\u201d she said. \u201cWith the shoulder surgery and having to take time off, at first I was pretty devastated. But I feel super rejuvenated now.\u201d<\/p>\n SF \u279d LA over 4 days. <\/p>\n A whole lot of gravel. Quality time with old friends and new ones. No structured training. Just an adventure. pic.twitter.com\/KjIQAxvjek<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kristen Faulkner (@FaulknerKristen) January 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n So what does a pro cyclist and computer science graduate do when they\u2019ve got time to burn?<\/p>\n Ride bikes and build gadgets, of course.<\/p>\n After suffering an initial month of rehab immobilized in a sling or stuck on the trainer, Faulkner spent the winter riding the coast roads of California and designing apps with AI.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u00a0was productive and mentally refreshing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Faulkner raced on the roads for the first time since July last month at the Pan-American Championships. Her time trial victory proves that maybe a \u201chappy rider is a strong rider,\u201d after all.<\/p>\n Faulkner chasing a three-peak season: Ardennes, Tour de France, Montr\u00e9al Faulkner\u2019s WorldTour comeback at De Ronde on Sunday marks a crucial step in her long road to the Olympic Games in L.A. 2028. <\/a><\/p>\n The Alaskan will ride her third Flanders this weekend as superdomestique for on-form Swiss teammate Noemi R\u00fcegg.<\/p>\n
\n![\"Faulkner\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/filters-quality75-8-1200x750.jpeg\"\/)
Faulkner had to slug it out on the trainer in the first phase of her recovery from shoulder surgery. (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/p>\n