Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s experienced Belgian speaks of splitting his time between family and training during the lockdown.
I’m a pro for almost two decades and I’ve never been home for as many months as I have during this time – it’s a completely new experience. The whole situation, with the pandemic, the restrictions and not having any races was really strange, but we all had to adapt to it, including our family.
As we have two boys – René who is 6 and Jules who is 9 – that meant that we had to make a schedule. With my wife, who is a psychologist, working from home and busy until 4 or 5 in the afternoon, I am in charge of them in the first part of the day. So, we designed a schedule, with some clear rules, or agreements, better said: after breakfast, they can watch TV, but then it’s time for school. In order to make things more fun, because it can become boring at some point, I gave them a few challenges, like ten push-ups or 100 jumps on the trampoline, every time they make a mistake, so they aren’t stuck at the desk for hours and hours.
I try to entertain them, to make it easier for them during this period, so we go out for a ride on our bikes or a walk in the neighbourhood, one hour per day they can play some video games, we sometimes play games all four of us, and do all that we can so that things run smoothly. In the end, we’re a four-man team, we work together, and things have been really good so far.
Every day, after my wife finishes work, I go out to train until 8 or 9 in the evening. On some days, when my kids have only half a day at school or on the weekends, I train even more, I go for longer rides, and it feels great, but at the same time it makes me dream of the moment the season will recommence. I miss the team and racing with the guys a lot. We are all working hard these months, so hopefully things will return to normal soon and the calendar will go ahead as planned.
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