Finnishing School

How the British racing scene built a Finnish national champion in 12 months.

- Michelle Arthurs-Brennan

When Eeva Sarlin moved to London she had never turned a pedal in anger. A bike loan and a lot of persuasion later and she was on the race circuit come 2017. By the end of 2018 she’d collected two National Championship titles in her home country, gaining a place in both the national and Olympic development teams. The now 28-year-old also holds Finnish titles in the omnium and crit race.

Since joining London women’s club Velociposse in 2017, Sarlin’s goals have undergone a seismic shift, but the former track and field athlete doesn’t think she’d have got off the start line without the support she found in the city.

“I had a single speed which I used to commute to work. One man chased me in traffc and said, ‘You’re really fast for a woman, you should join our club.’

“When I heard about Velociposse, via Instagram, it was a culture I wanted to be a part of.

Club coach Matt Butt lent Sarlin one of the Aventon track bikes donated to the Velociposse riders.

“The first time I went to the Herne Hill velodrome women’s session there were some super good women around me. I was so slow compared to everyone else, but they inspired me to feel I could go faster,” says Sarlin.

Herne Hill’s women’s sessions led to victories in the annual summer track league, and things went well when gears and brakes were added, too, Butt told us: “The first sign that Eeva had some potential was during her first [road] race in summer 2017.