EF Education-Cannondale’s Veronica Ewers announced today that she will not be racing for the remainder of 2024.
The U.S. cyclist revealed that she has RED-S (relative energy deficiency in sport), poor bone density and “pretty much non-existent” estrogen levels after recent bloodwork and a DEXA scan to address a stress fracture in her heel.
According to Brown University, physically active people are at risk for RED-S, and it can occur with or without disordered eating or intentional underfueling. The crux of RED-S is the under-consumption of calories coupled with frequent intense exercise, creating an energy deficiency in the body.
Brown University explains that for those who menstruate, when the body perceives “too great a gap between energy expenditure and energy intake, estrogen levels drop…[and] estrogen levels are needed to maintain calcium content in bone.”
If low estrogen levels aren’t addressed, says Brown University, osteoporosis can develop.
Ewers, who only began riding bikes in 2018, skyrocketed to the pro level by 2021, when she stood atop the U.S. Pro Nationals podium with a bronze medal. In 2022, Ewers finished ninth overall at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (a crash sidelined her in Stage 6 of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift).
Heading into 2024, Ewers and her support system at EF Education-Cannondale knew her health needed to be a focus.
“At the beginning of this year, the team said, ‘We’re going to try to get you to a healthy place. That might mean that performance takes a hit, but we’ll make some adaptations at the beginning of this year,’' Ewers shared in a statement. “My training changed because my body needed to heal and recover in certain ways. This then impacted my performance, which had a domino effect on my mental health… This break was a suggestion from the team as a way to have a full reset.”
The Idaho native says she will be taking time away from biking for “quite some time” and then seeing what the future holds.
Ewers said in her statement that she has a strong support system to bolster her physical and mental health heading into this next chapter consisting of her team physician, a dietician, a therapist, her coaches and her teammates.
Ewers acknowledged that this indefinite break will be hard and scary, and she questions if she will be stronger than she was before when she returns.
Regardless, Ewers knows that this time away from competitive cycling is critical for her overall health, and she plans to use the hiatus to travel Europe with her parents before returning to Idaho and spending time at her family home.
“I think [the time with my family] will give me a lot of peace,” Ewers said. “I can just spend some time with my family and friends… and just get that reset.”
