When Lotta Henttala (EF Education-Cannondale) crossed the finish line of stage 1 of the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas, having just passed late attacker Carina Schrempf (Fenix-Deceuninck), she raised her left arm and started celebrating wildly. It then wasn't long till she was swarmed by hugging teammates and crying tears of joy – this was her first victory in over five years.
“We went to the day with ‘let’s see how I feel’, and if I feel okay, we can try to sprint because it’s been quite a long journey to come back. I had a baby a few years ago, and then I had long COVID but I’ve started to feel better month by month,” Henttala said in the race organisation’s post-race interview, filmed by ProCycling Women.
Henttala now has 26 career wins to her name, but before Thursday's victory the last was on the first stage of the Healthy Ageing Tour in April of 2019, still under her maiden name of Lepistö as it was ahead of her marriage to fellow Finnish pro cyclist Joonas Henttala in October of that year.
“It's been a long time, yes, and it was super great feeling to win again. Winning does not happen very often - you have more days when you lose so for sure I will cherish this one,” Henttala told Cyclingnews.
The 2020 season was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Henttala was preparing for the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but she felt ill and abandoned the 2021 Vuelta a Burgos Féminas, later finding out she was pregnant. Her and Joonas’ son Olavi was born in January of 2022, but Henttala realised she wasn’t done with pro cycling yet.
She signed with AG Insurance-Soudal for 2023 and started her comeback with a bang in February, taking two runner-up spots in the Setmana Valenciana with Olavi in attendance as the race wasn’t far from the Henttala’s residence in Girona.
However, a month later, Henttala contracted COVID and had to sit out most of the spring classics, and the after effects of the illness influenced the rest of her season.
“I had COVID last spring, and it took me almost nine months to recover fully," Henttala said. "It's been quite a rough path to make a comeback and to believe that I can reach the top level. But now I feel 100% healthy again and I can feel that training is going to the right place.”
Henttala was announced as one of the key signings for the new-look EF Education-Cannondale team for 2024. Joonas retired from road cycling at the end of the 2023 season and now works for the Nordic Gravel Series and as a cycling coach.
“It's still quite a busy life at home. Joonas enjoys sports, so we try to manage our daily schedule so that we are both happy and love what we are doing and manage to raise our son as best as possible together,” she explained.
It was three years on from finding out about her pregnancy, that Henttala completed her comeback with the sprint victory in a chaotic stage finishing in Burgos. There was a crash close to the finish involving Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ) but that was to the left of Henttala so she was unhindered.
“I had quite a good training block the last two months and I could feel it on the climbs that I could spin my legs a little bit," said Henttala in a team statement. "I was not on the limit all the time so I thought, ‘ok, maybe I have something left for the sprint’ and I went full gas for it.”
