Hailing from Czechia, Daniela comes from a family of cyclists with her dad, uncle and cousins all taking part in the sport either recreationally or more on a local racing level. However, Daniela initially “hated cycling” and her first true passion was ice hockey where she competed at a really good level and got invited to compete in Canada and America, but then the Covid-19 pandemic meant that she couldn’t play and halted those ambitions.
From there Daniela took up cyclocross and loved the fast action of the hour-long racing in the mud, but road racing slowly grew on her and eventually she spent less time on the rink; and ultimately had to make a choice between ice hockey and cycling, choosing two wheels. However, she learned a few valuable lessons from her time on skates.
“I learned a lot about team spirit from ice hockey and that translates into cycling. I also played with the boys, so you quickly learn how to stand up for yourself and the shoulder charging in hockey helps when battling for position in the bunch,” she laughs.
Describing herself as a “passionate”, “little bit crazy” “team-player”, Daniela thinks those attributes help her as a cyclist. It’s clear when she talks that despite her young age, Daniela has a mature head on her shoulders and the little bit crazy that she mentions links to her passionate nature, where she is willing to through herself “all-in” for whatever it is that she does.
By her own admission she had “hoped for more” results wise in her junior years but was blighted by some bad luck, injuries or sickness at key moments. Nonetheless, she stayed resilient in adversity.
“I really believe that I can make it as a pro. When you have bad luck or things don’t happen the way you want, that’s just that part of the story. The next chapter can always be different.”
That next chapter sees Daniela make the big step-up from juniors to WorldTour level racing for which she is “both excited and nervous” at the same time.
“It is a huge step, but I believe that with the help and support of the team, it will go as smoothly as possible. I want to develop as a person here and be prepared to take my chances when the time comes. I just want to give 100 percent in everything I do.”
When she’s not riding her bike, then Daniela is like most teenagers and enjoys hanging out with friends or family either in person or online playing video games.