For Alison Jackson of EF Education-Oatly the 2025 season starts with the UAE Tour, and the Canadian rider is raring to go for her third year with the US-based team.
"I always say if I can pull off one big win in the year, then we'll have a good season," Jackson told Cyclingnews.
"So we try again for a big win in the classics, that's a main focus, and we also want to win a stage in one of the Grand Tours. We really want to win bike races as a team."
Jackson is visibly excited for the race to start, and we ask how the season looks from here - with the UAE Tour being her second outing after the Challenge Mallorca.
"Oh, good! A happy heart and a happy head make for really good legs," she said.
"I think the team has a good environment for that. I also have a balanced life of the serious focus you need for bike racing, but also a lot of fun in my other off-the-bike stuff.
"I think that keeps me alive and I can really get excited about the tough stuff that's bike racing."
For Jackson, the beauty of cycling is all about blending.
"I've been doing a lot of bikepacking, and just last week I went for a gravel ride, slept in a tree house, and then came back," she said.
"I think you can blend really good performance training when you still get a good sleep but while also doing something unconventional, so I love that.
"I also love hosting my friends for dinner parties [which] then turn into dance parties, of course.
"I've also been skateboarding, I can do two or three tricks, and some that are, well, I don't know if you'd call them a trick!"
I point out her pink glittery stud earrings which match the EF kit.
"At Paris-Roubaix last year, a Canadian couple came, and the lady said I have this gift to give you that I made in collaboration with a jewellery company in Canada, and she gave me these earrings," said Jackson.
"I hadn't worn them yet, and then later in the year, at a random gravel race event I saw her husband there. He asked if I remembered the earrings, and I said let me say thank you to your wife. That's when he told me she had passed away.
"He said one of biggest joys of the year was getting to meet me, so today I'm wearing them in honour of her.
"It's what I find so beautiful about cycling, I love meeting and interacting with the fans as they are so positive.
"Every human's got a great story, and to get to blend lives together, because of this sport I do and being a public person, is awesome."
