SUSTAINABLE RACING WARRIORS

Former sailor Isabella Bertold is turning the tide for green cycling with her UCI women's team InstaFund Racing

- Andy McGrath

Isabella Bertold’s first love of sailing opened her eyes to the perilous state of the planet. With the open ocean as her raceway, the environmental problems were swimming right past her. She saw a sea turtle caught in a beer six-pack and a dolphin stuck in a net. Then there were the thousands upon thousands of objects. “Entire dining room tables, toys, Barbies, trash bags, wrappers,” she says. “I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve seen one flip-flop float by. I don’t know how many people are walking around with one shoe.”

Training on the water in Rio de Janeiro in 2014 amid such waste was the tipping point which hardened her resolve to have a greater impact on making the world sustainable.

Team on a mission

Marine pollution is just one existential issue to go alongside the likes of deforestation, global warming and air pollution. With her quiet steel, formidable resumé and sporting versatility, Bertold is a supreme advocate for change. From the age of 13 she was on the Canadian national sailing team, competing on the Olympic circuit and moving up to second in the world rankings. In between, she went to business school and became a venture capital analyst. Her background encourages her to use tech and innovation to make a difference.

Chronic knee injuries took her into bike riding, then racing. By 2019, she had switched focus to two wheels. “Sailing is a very tactical sport, you’re always trying to think ahead. I like that side in cycling, as well as the speed and intensity,” she says.