Edvin Elofsson on sprinting across the finish line - presented by our teampartner Hestra
Edvin Elofsson is barely 18 but has already shown his capacity in a competitive context, and is one of Sweden's most promising young cyclists. He won the Junior Swedish Championships 2022 and at the Junior European Championships in Portugal a year later he got a bronze medal in XCC. Then again, just a few weeks later, a silver in the Junior Swedish Championships. He also made an impression as he sprinted away from the entire Swedish men's elite in Engelbrektsloppet, as the first junior ever to win a race in the Swedish National Marathon Series.
"It has been a good season. A lot of lessons learnt! I've done several races abroad and the competition is completely different - there are ten more riders fighting for top positions. Small mistakes makes a big difference in the result list, so I'm learning something new every time."
Edvin was born in 2005 and is about to start his final year of technical high school. Thanks to a "kind mentor who likes sports and gives time off for competitions", it works quite well to combine studies and cycling. As a child he competed in motorcross, but at the age of 8 or 9 he changed gears in favour of mountain bike.
"My parents cycled, and it seemed fun. I took part in the Mörksuggejakten race in Rättvik when I was about ten years old. I won my class!"
Today, Edvin's main discipline is XCO, where riders complete a certain number of laps on a four-to-six-kilometre track. Along the course there are obstacles in form of rock gardens, drops and jumps, and you need technique, stamina, and tactics to stay ahead. Something that Edvin has demonstrated to master very well.
"I'm quite explosive, so I can put in an extra gear when needed. Then I'm pretty good at pushing myself to the max and going for the long haul as well," Edvin says.
EDVIN ON CYCLING GLOVES
"I would never ride without gloves, even in the summer when it's really hot. You get sweaty and then it becomes slippery if your hand is bare. You simply get a much better grip with a glove than without", Edvin says.
Edvin prefers his gloves to be tight and thin, with not too much material between the hand and the handlebar. At the same time, they should be breathable. Like the co-lab glove, which was developed when Team Serneke Allebike and Hestra launched their collaboration earlier this summer.
"I use the co-lab glove for both training and racing, and it has worked very well!"
