“I’m the boss,” Nikki asserts.
“I can be a bit of a madam at the
races. So he says.”
“We’ve had our bust-ups, let’s
just say that,” adds Matt. “She gets
pretty nervous before her big races
when she feels pressure to do well.
A lot of the time it’s a good sign
and means she’s going to go well
— but sometimes I’d rather she
goes badly and is actually a nice
person to me!”
The strength of the Brammeiers’
relationship also helped when it
came to setting up Nikki’s new
Mudiiita-Canyon cyclo-cross
team, with its attendant academy
and skills workshops.
“It consumed us for a few weeks
but eventually it just saved us
loads of time as we could decide
where and when to work on it and
chat about it,” Nikki says.
“The good thing with working
with your missus is you just say
it how it is, so things happen a lot
faster and you tend to actually get
stuff done,” says Matt.
The couple’s relationship has
also helped them in the darker
times pro cycling occasionally
brings — “he really needs to
stop falling off before I have a
nervous breakdown!”
jokes Nikki — but
they both intend to
continue riding
together when
they eventually
finish racing.
“It’s something
I’m most looking
forward to once we
are both retired —
just riding for fun together
without training,” Nikki says.Carole Kremer and
Michael Gérard
After cycling separately for some
years, Carole and Michael met onFeature
a club trip to Italy where they rode
in the same group. On their first
date back home in Luxembourg
they were already planning a
cycling future together.
“We weren’t properly
together yet and were already
jokingly saying we could just go
somewhere with
the bikes together,”
Carole tells us.
“Nothing had really
happened and I did
the Maratona [dles
Dolomites] and
I still remember
every evening giving
you updates.”
Over nearly five years since then,
the couple have cycled regularly
and all their holidays have been
on the bike, visiting most of the
mountains of western Europe.
“We never feel resentment
because we are doing something
the other person can’t join in with.“He needs to stop
falling off before I have
a nervous breakdown!”
jokes Nikki
Cycling holidays are a done
deal for Carole and Michael22 | February 8, 2018 | Cycling Weekly