"Me and my weight ! Very serious. When I just passed a Burger King, I gained weight already".In the battle of the daily life Mama Van Moorsel did not avoid the hard work. When it was necessary the housewife from Brabant (part of Holland) carried bags with cement of fifty kilograms. The citizens of Boekel (village in Brabant) spoke about it daily. She got her fighters mentality from her parents. That is what the twofold world champion of road racing and sportswoman of the year said with granite confidence.
It must, It shall and it can. This is the slogan which helps her unfortunate parents. My father got a heart operation twice and my mother got lung disease. They had two businesses in building materials and went bankrupt. I am happy now that they can go with me to the races sometimes. Leontien is a product of the polder of Brabant, the most elegant racer in the peleton. She never shall push an opponent to the edge. She likes it more helping a colleague when they have fallen unfortunately. As a world champion and sportswoman of the year she was not too bad to carry boxes in the local supermarket.
You won a gold medal in the track time trial and in the pursuit. You were in tremendous shape. Did you count on winning the individual time trial on the road as well?
I had won two medals but I had prepared mostly on the time trial and on the road. But I could not race, because I was ill. After the race on the track I felt a bit ill already. In the 50 km pursuit I went so deep that I just got more ill. I felt sorry to quit the road race. If I had felt well in the time trial or the track I had a chance to win a medal as well on the road.
You absolutely had a better chance than our men, Rooks, van der Poel en Maasen?
"I definitely had finished the seventy kilometers, for sure. With our men some quit after 24 kilometers already. Adrie van der Poel for example. Slush in the legs. Lets be honest, they arrived in Japan much too late, one day before. When they were exploring the circuit there were a few who liked it more to stay in the hotel, because of the heat. That is not possible when you have to race 200 km the next day. All the girls have finished the race and all the men, except for Breukink, have quit the race.
There are no amateurs, are there?
The question was that they liked more to race the criteriums in Holland, because they could earn better money there. I did race on purpose on the track first, to get used to the climate. The track was a sort of warming-up for the road race. I was there seven days before and it went so well I had never thought of it. I had only two months experience on the track. I had trained a little on the track in Alkmaar. The arrival on Schiphol Amsterdam was a big party. Hedy d'Ancona, the minister was there.
How did you come through the first months of the winter?
I had many parties and went out as much as possible. I enjoyed it. I went to the movies and the bars. In the summer all of that is not possible. Then you have your diets, otherwise I get fat immediately. In my family, they all are quite fat. I am the youngest in the family and the lightest now, 65 kg with a size of 1, 65 meter. I lost 12 kilo's now. My mother is grilling the meat for me. I am not eating one gram fat too much. In the Tour EG I have eaten everything they offered me, and I even gained weight in a prologue course. That is the reason that I just eat uncooked food and drink Spa red now. I still got second in the Tour EG, behind Marsal from France. She is the best in the world now.
And you are second?
I don't know, in some races I am, in others I am not.
How high did you go in the Tour EG?
Thousand, two hundred meters. It is like Luik-Bastenaken-Luik. Steep short climbs. I am good in it. Better than in the long climbs. It was nine days climbing, nine days suffering and still gaining four kilo's. Terrible ! What I do then is stop eating almost but that is too dangerous. Because too little eating makes you ill on the bike. For that I have a dietician now who gives me food advise. I visit her one time every two weeks. She said: You only go on the balance diet when you are with me, otherwise you do it yourself four times a day.
Now a days you have a financial manager. Your business care is getting more important, because of all your successes?
I am very busy. Distributions of prizes at road races, opening shops and honorings. In summertime it is difficult to combine with my exercises and races. In the wintertime I like it more. I don't like businesses myself. I am not the bookkeeping-type. I just finished housekeeping school. Besides that I just race on my bike. For me biking was everything. I am biking from my eighth year and most of the time I won prizes. Small races in Boekel, Oirschot or Eindhoven. It was a nice time and actually last year I started to take it more serious. With the juniors I still ate snacks in wintertime and drunk liqueurs as Amaretto, Safari and Pisang ambon. I don't do those things now anymore. I just drink Spa red and when I get home, yoghurt, skim-milk of-course.
We don't see you in the disco anymore?
Yes, I go to Uden most of the time, sometimes to Den Bosch or Valkenswaard.
Not in Boekel?
No I don't like it in Boekel so much. Only farm boys, she laughs.
Do you notice the public (audience?) during your races?
Yes, I notice the handsome men, to be honest, otherwise I should not be healthy. I don't stop for them, but once I just rode from the roller during warming-up, when I saw a handsome bloke. That was in Japan during the WC. I was warming up for the eighth finals. The Italians passed by and the Americans. There was a nice atmosphere in there in the hall. Suddenly I saw a nice looking Italian guy and I lost my concentration and almost fell from the roller. Fortunately my masseur caught me just in time. Otherwise I should have broken something. But that was not the worse. Because of the whole thing I forgot to warm up decently. And so I started against an American girl whom I had beaten the same morning with six seconds and now she nearly beat me. I just rode half a second faster. I nearly was out. What men can do ! A nice blond Italian. After my victory we liked to go out, but my coach Eric Geserick did not let me go.
Did you already received a postcard from Italy?
No not yet. But I like so many boys unfortunately!
You practice with your team mates of the club Buitenlust in Helmond. Can the girls follow the boys when they are using the fourteen?
One girl is not the others. A middle class girl gets beaten by those boys. But the top class don't. I don't let myself by beaten by the boys. Sometimes I am on the head of the peloton.
Do you ride the fourteen?
When I am good I can. Not in spring. But at the time of the Dutch championships I do. But with 52-16 I go as fast with lots of surplus.
In the sprint to the finish you race on the big chain ring?
In the sprint you have to ride the 14. But I am not a very good sprinter. In a small group it's OK. But not in a mass-sprint. When they start to push I quit. Monique Knol is better in mass-sprints than I am. She is never afraid and can even sprint with 52-12. She has the legs for that, but honestly I don't want those legs.
Are you very emancipated?
For me a man does not have to open the door. I can do that by myself. With big hotels I don't need the piccolo's to carry my suitcases. I can do that myself as well, or they have to be very heavy. I don't like very sheik diners too. And I don't like the food as well, because my dietician does not allow me to eat all that stuff.
Do you like freedom in your carrier?
I am very close with Piet Hoekstra the federal coach. I can trust him all the time. We do all the racing together. We talk about it what I want and what he wants. I don't like to work up my heartbeat during winter. I did some workouts and aerobics, but I definitely did not practice on my bike. He agreed with that. My heartbeat is about 180-185 and in the race during a sprint in a climb it is getting 200. Some girls finish the road bike in winter and immediately start on the mountain bike. But I don't like that very much.
Do you like to become a independent and successful business woman?
I don't think so. Possibly a professional woman's dream is starting one. I still like to race a few years and then we see. First I have to prove who I am. I am one year ahead on my schedule and want to score in Barcelona 1992, on the track as well as the road. And after Barcelona we will see. Olympic champion is my wish.
You have to travel a lot. Do you prefer nice hotel rooms?
I like hotel rooms with a big bath and a duvet. I need a TV with remote control, a radio, a mini bar for when I am thirsty and a nice Christmas-bonbon on my pillow. The sanitary is not important. If it is just clean. Some races we stay in a school with dirty mattresses and stinky blankets. I don't like that at all.
Actually road racing is still a men's sport?
The last years woman's road racing is getting more publicity and sponsors. In France it goes well for a long time because of Longo of course. Last year one time I was third in a stage course behind Longo and Canins. She is even older than Longo, 44 I think. Then they said granny, mom and daughter are standing on the platform.
Do you get annoyed because of men who still see woman as a nice picture?
You have to put up with that problem because you often get the prize for the most elegant racer. I like those prizes, but it is not the most important for me. Racing is number one.
Do you have fear of crashes?
That seems awful to me. I should think to go on well if that should happen. The risks are big in the mass-sprints. Last year I had a heavy concussion of the brain. That was the fourth time, but every time I fall on the back of my head and never on the face. Now we have to wear helmets.
Do you use make-up for the course?
I always use mascara and lipstick in the same collar as my shirt. I was the only one who used lipstick and mascara in the locker room before the race. The others were laughing about that in the beginning. Nowadays half of the peloton is using lipstick and mascara. They are worth it to whistle to. And they don't have thick asses as well nowadays. They all have perfect bodies, and in good shape.
Do you clean your bike by yourself?
Yes I do that from my eighth year. My father sometimes helps me with polishing the wheels.
You use nail polish and sometimes with morning-borders?
For that I use a file and a brush.
Aren't you afraid to look in the mirror after a heavy race?
No, I look awful then. Mucus everywhere. What Breukink had, I have too. But I don't worry about that. It is a sign of top sport.
Are you a great sports woman, as you fall from your bike at the finish?
I got experiences, like in the team time trial last year in Japan, that I did not know what I was doing. Everything hurt. At that moment you realize that pain and sorrow are close to each other. Before we had the accident we were warming up with 45 km/hour. I was ahead a little. Then suddenly a Japanese boy branched off to the right. I just could pass, but Adtrid and Cora hit him and fell. Without a helmet that was still allowed at that time. The blood came out off Astrid's head. For this day we practiced a whole year and we thought we could not start. It was about a quarter before the start. Marjon Rooij, the substitute was warming up already. But suddenly Astrid stood up again and said no no, I want to race myself, and she started as if nothing had happened. The blood was gushing in her neck. If that should happen to me I would never start again. Somebody with so much morality as Astrid I have never met before.
How deep did you go in the race?
I gave myself for 150 %. I was tired and I got a fever and my heartbeat was 40 beats higher than normal the next morning. Normally it's 38. At that time it was 70. It was a sign that something was wrong.
Can you handle pain easily?
Since I work with Piet Hoekstra I have grown up mentally. He can talk to you so penetrating. Then he says racing is hurting yourself and when you are broken, the others are broken even more. He is busy with it day and night, just like my parents are. They paid everything for my racing, my bikes, my clothes, and they know that I am always in a bad mood before a race. Then I am annoyed about every small thing. In fact they are not only my parents they are my friends.
If it is raining don't you stop practice then because you are afraid to loose your mascara?
When it starts to rain when I am on my way It doesn't matter. But when it is raining before I have to leave, I stay at home and practice two hours on the roller.
Woman's road racing is as woman's soccer: it is never getting something?
I think that woman's racing is accepted better then woman's soccer. You never see woman's soccer on TV. But I never played soccer so I don't have an opinion about that. I did gymnastic when I was little and in wintertime I do fitness and aerobics, jazz ballet and go to the bar. Talking, that is a sport for me as well. My brother Jan brought me to road racing. He already did it and I had to go with him to the races because I was too young to stay home all alone.
Coach Hoekstra gets annoyed about your phone-calls to home, when you stay in the hotel?
When you are in love, you call a lot. When you don't have a friend it's easier to stay from home a longer time. I had a relationship for two years but it didn't work out anymore, because the boy was very jealous. He thought that I went out with other friends and to bars when I was abroad. Well abroad you don't see anything besides your bike, your bed and the dinner room. He liked it that I had publicity but on the other hand he wanted to keep me for himself and that is not possible.
What does a man mean to you?
Very much. But now I don't like a relationship very much. I like to go out with some girlfriends. I should not think about it that I had to go to a man after I am home two days. No I have to do what I like to do. I am not ready for a steady relationship. I am still too loose for that now.
Do you still have to learn a lot in road racing?
Indeed, I have still have a lot to learn. This year in the Tour I made a stupid mistake. Astrid Schop was in front. I thought she was caught back at the col (pass in the mountains). In the climb Marsal was accelerating. I went with her and took over the head-position, so we were as fast as possible with Astrid. I was afraid that the French girl should go alone. I should not have taken over the head position. We came with Astrid, Marsal and I. And what she did, she went again and I went with her. She went another time and I still could go with her, but the third time I could not anymore. So Marsal went alone and won 40 seconds in the last kilometer. That's why I lost the Tour. That was a very big mistake.
There is no compassion in road racing?
It is not a sewing-club. I saw one time how an American and a Canadian girl pushed each other against a car and after that they dived in a ditch. They are always fighting. I should not do that.
The time of the fat asses is over. The nail types are coming now. Vanessa van Dijk is a real nail. Are you going that way? Did you see Vanessa van Dijk one time?
I don't like it. She is too skinny. She has gotten that way. Formerly she was firm. There is nothing left of that. Nevertheless she is eating well. But she is looking creepy. Under the shower after a race it is always fun. When Vanessa got undressed, everybody was getting quiet. But she is climbing the hills very fast. In a couple of years a little too skinny is no problem for me. I can get fat long enough. I don't have any trouble to eat well.
Leontien showed a picture of a couple of years ago.
That's me, don't you think I am like a fat boy here. Nobody ever told me that I was that big.
What does your favorite meal look like?
Chips, and a frikandel (fat snack). That is a delicacy. I did not eat it for one and a half years now, but I smelled it actually. Sometimes I see the snackbar in our village. I always said: When I go on my diet the snackbar is going bankrupt. But it is still there. I don't understand anything about that.
Do you make a good living with road racing?
I do earn less than anybody who is working forty hours in a supermarket. I worked half a day in the supermarket in Boekel. One time Mr. Van der Haar of the Dutch Federal Organization of Sports came by the supermarket and saw that I was carrying boxes. He didn't like that because it was bad for my image. I did not see the problem really. The DFOS is paying me now a contribution. I have my salary in the supermarket and my sponsor-contract with Amev (Insurance company). But when I should live on my own I will not have enough money.
Did the top sport change you as a person?
I am a lot more serious now. Before that it was always fun. Outside and inside I changed. Became more of a businesswoman now.
It must, it shall and it can!
Translated by forum contributers.
The End.