In the beginning of August Team Coop – Hitec Products announced that Stine Dale joins the team. This month she will be racing with the team for the first time. We thought it is about time to get to know the Norwegian rider a bit more, as she comes from triathlon, a sport in which she is active on international level. Dale will combine both sports. “I am really looking forward to do some more bike races.”
To focus more on cycling, is not strange in the case of Stine. “I think it’s just that cycling is my favourite discipline in triathlon and that I wanted to see how I could do when I’m only cycling”, she tells about that. At the Norwegian time trial championships, she surprised with ending sixth, racing on a normal road bike. “Also the last year I’ve been watching a lot of cycling races, and I just realised how cool of a sport I think it is.”
But, it all started with triathlon: “I’ve been doing triathlon since 2016. The last three years I’ve been a part of the Norwegian national team in triathlon and I still am. I have gotten the opportunity to race a lot internationally, which I’ve been enjoying, and I have some medals from the national championships. I think the highlight of my triathlon career so far has been a 4th place at world championships in the mixed team relay, where I was lucky to be a part of a super strong team.”
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Nationals
Cycling is still new to Stine. “When I went to nationals I really didn’t have any expectations other than that I wanted to do a good race”, she looks back on the end of June. “I had never competed against any cyclist and I didn’t really know where my level was compared to the others. Also I didn’t have a TT bike, so I just had to go with what I got, which was my road bike with clip on bars. After the race I was happy with my performance, and when I got 6th I thought that was an okay result for being a first timer. After the race I knew that I wanted to do more of it.”
On the 10th and 11th of September, a Travers les Hauts de France and La Choralis Fourmies Féminine will be the first two race of Stine with Team Coop – Hitec Products. “I am really excited to be part of the team. It seems like a fun group to be a part of, so I’m looking forward to getting to know everybody and of course race with them. I am really grateful for this opportunity!”
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Gaining experience
Racing in the international peloton will be new to Stine and something she is looking forward to. What is it she hopes to achieve? “First of all I want to get more experience from racing. I think it is hard to set a specific goal, since I am quite new to this. But I hope to do some races where I feel happy with my performance. If I continue to enjoy cycling races as much as I do so far, I think it would be really cool to do the Tour de France Femmes.”
Combination
Joining Team Coop – Hitec Products does not mean Stine quits triathlon. “For the time being I am thinking about combining the sports. Cycling is still quite new for me and I haven’t done any international races there yet. So I think I need some more experience from that before I am ready to take a decision. For now I just know that I really enjoy cycling.”
Photo’s: Tommy Armani / Mikal Iden