Alice Arzuffi: “I left 777 because I didn’t feel happy there anymore”

After a disappointing 2020/21 season, Alice Maria Arzuffi decided to switch teams. She left the Belgian 777 team and joined the brand new Italian FAS Airport services Team. In an interview on the cyclocross social podcast she tells us about what lead to this decision You can listen to the full interview as a podcast!

The 2020/21 season was a disappointing season for Arzuffi. Where in previous seasons she could consistently fight for top 3/5 results, she now struggled to get into the top 10. The only two races that went really well for her were the world cup in Tabor, where she ended 8th, and the Italian championship, which she won.

Following that disappointing season Arzuffi felt she needed to make some changes. About that she said: “i felt like i had come to a point where I needed to make changes. I had been doing the same things year after year after year. I was kind of stuck in a circle, and it clearly didn’t work anymore. I decided to change my mental coach, my diëtist and trainer. I also decided to leave the 777 team, because I didn’t feel happy there anymore. I was living in Belgium, far away from my friends and family and after all those years that started to take its toll. The team provided the bikes and the camper, but I needed to do all the rest by myself. Where Belgian and Dutch riders have their family to help them, it isn’t that easy for me. When i got the opportunity to join FAS I was really happy, because i could move back to Italy. I feel much happier now.”

Arzuffi also feels that all the changes helped improve her results. She has been closer to the top 10 than last year, and actually managed to get into it more frequently, all this despite struggling with her starts. Arzuffi believes that the bad starts are caused by a mental problem she has. After a couple bad starts, she lost her confidence with starting, and it went from bad to worse with her starts. However, she does think its only a matter of time before she can regain that confidence

This weekend in Val di Sole, Arzuffi is aiming for her second world cup top 10 of the season

You can listen to the full interview with Eva Lechner in episode 39 of the Cyclocross Social Podcast, it is available on all audio platforms.