Ava Holmgren swaps 'every woman for herself' junior racing for balance in WorldTour

At the age of 18, Ava Holmgren was already a two-time Canadian elite women’s cyclocross champion. She had a silver medal from Cyclocross World Championships as a junior, and stood on the podium alongside her twin sister Isabella, who secured the gold. Yes, she competes on the road, too, and had a fourth on GC and the youth classification title at the prestigious Watersley Ladies Challenge in 2022. 

She, along with twin sister Isabella, are the youngest of five children to parents Rob and Lisa Holmgren, both accomplished cyclists themselves, who frequented trails just north of Toronto at the Hardwood Ski and Bike recreation centre with their brood. Brother Gunnar, who is six years older than the twins, is a mountain bike professional and won the men’s MTB cross-country title at the 2023 Pan-American Games. He has been an inspiration for his youngest sisters, but cycling is also part of their DNA.

When she and ‘Bella’ went 1-2 at Cyclocross Worlds for Canada earlier this year, making history as the first riders of any age to win world championship medals in cyclocross for the nation, she said, “we did it”. It was all about family, it was all about team.

Ava will make her pro cycling debut in 2024 on the WorldTour stage with Lidl-Trek, which will allow her to race with Isabella for two years as well. Ava said joining Lidl-Trek was a ‘perfect match’. Her new teammates will soon be able to easily distinguish between the fraternal twins, with Ava's most obvious physical characteristics being height, she is the shorter of the duo, and speech, she has a much deeper voice. 

She shared with Cyclingnews her individual story about riding bikes year round across three disciplines, which discipline is her favourite and what plans are on the horizon with Lidl-Trek.  

Cyclingnews: You have been riding a bike since you were very young, as your parents and siblings have been competitive since you were small. Tell us how you got started. 

Ava Holmgren: Riding in our weekly race series was a family activity that we did at a very young age. We always had the choice to not go if we didn't want to ride our bikes. That wasn’t the case for me because I love riding my bike. However, I still did multiple sports growing up, and competitive swimming was the most prominent.

CN: Who in your family influenced you the most? 

AH: Bella (my twin sister) is the one in my family that influences me the most. We are very competitive, and it has proven to be one of the biggest advantages in our training. Having a twin sister in the same sport that you do is hard but also rewarding.

CN: At the 2022-23 CX Worlds in February in the women’s junior races at Hoogerheide, you won the silver medal and your sister took the gold. How big was that? 

AH: The 2022-2023 ‘cross season was such an exhilarating block of racing. I had one of the best seasons of my life and did very well in the Junior World Cups, often beating my sister. Bella would usually beat me on the second day of racing and in a couple of really tough races. On the day of the World Championships, she was the best! 

CN: You have two Canadian CX titles as an elite and you are just 18. How special is it to wear the maple leaf jersey?

AH: It is very special to me. I am slightly biased, but I think Canada has one of the best flags for a national champion’s jersey. I want to represent it well in Europe this year!

CN: After a pair of Pan-Am CX titles as a junior, you moved to U23 this year and won silver in Missoula, Montana. Your sister opted to race Pan-Ams in the elite race and won. Tell us how you both decide which category to race. Is there a method to this?

AH: The whole category switch-up started when I upgraded to the Elite category at Nationals last year. I upgraded because I had already won Pan-Ams and would wear that jersey while racing in Europe. There were more points on the line and also a jersey that I could wear while racing elite World Cups. I didn’t want to upgrade to the Elite category for this year’s Pan-Ams because I was still getting back into form from my injury [broken collarbone prior to MTB Worlds in Scotland]. 

Bella decided to upgrade for elite Pan Ams this year because she was in very good form and had a good shot at winning. She also decided that after winning the Elite Pan American jersey, she wanted to stay in the U23 category at nationals. Therefore, she could wear the Maple leaf at U23 races/podiums then the Pan Am jersey at Elite races/podiums.

CN: You mentioned the injury that kept you out of MTB Worlds in August. Tell us about not being part of Team Canada for Junior Road Worlds, which was also in Glasgow five days earlier.

AH: I haven’t raced a Road World Championships. The selection criteria is primarily based on Nationals and I was sick this year. I was very shocked when I wasn’t selected because Bella and I were by far the best Canadian juniors in the European races. It was a big goal of mine to race there and the course looked hard and technical, just how I like it! 

CN: So what are the three words to describe your 2023?

AH: Ups and downs.

CN: Well, one of the major ‘ups’ was signing a two-year, professional contract with LIdl-Trek. How do you want to develop at the top tier with this team?

AH: I’d like to develop as a whole because there are many important aspects to a professional athlete that aren’t just racing. Things like working with media, day-to-day life, meetings, etc. I want to be able to navigate these things comfortably by the end of the season in order to find the right balance.

I’d like to improve in many things, specifically how to ride as a team. I feel like the junior years were more like ‘every woman for herself’ at times. Having teammates is very exciting to me and I’m looking forward to learning from them and working with them! 

CN: What is your top goal for 2024 with Lidl-Trek? 

AH: My biggest goal is to progress in many aspects. I am also ambitious to ride the Tour de L’Avenir.

CN: In two years, where would you like to be in your cycling career?

AH: Hopefully, signing another contract with Lidl-Trek!

CN: What are the distinguishing 'talents' that separate you from your sister?

AH: I think about tactics more often than her, whereas she usually goes as hard as she can (and drops me). 

CN: Off the bike, what makes you different from Bella?

AH: Off of the bike, we have a couple of different interests. I like to use my creative side with art and music when she would use it for baking and cooking. I think that I tend to be less shy than her, until she opens up. However, we do share a lot of the same qualities and interests!

CN: What is your dream event to ride, and your dream event to win?

AH: My dream event to win is the World Championships. I’d love to ride the Tour de France. After watching the men’s race growing up, it has been a dream of mine to race it for a very long time. Thankfully, we have the Tour de France Femmes and now the girls can watch and be inspired just like I am.

CN: You ride so many disciplines - CX, MTB and road. If you had one day to just ride for fun - not race or train - which bike would you choose? 

AH: I would definitely choose my MTB. There is nothing else that compares to a perfectly satisfying flow trail with jumps, berms, and features. 

CN: Now that you are out of high school, what pursuits, besides cycling, do you have for yourself? 

AH: I just graduated high school and I am taking a little break. I’m currently trying to teach myself some basic Spanish because I will be renting in Girona. 

CN: Down the road, what do you think you'd like to do besides cycling?

AH: I’m not entirely sure yet, but I enjoy expressing my creative side with art and music. I can also see myself taking on a job that involves cycling in some way.