'It's been a steep learning curve' – Kate Courtney on her move from mountain biking to road racing

As Kate Courtney sprinted to fourth place on stage four of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women last week, fans watching along the barriers would have been forgiven for thinking she had been road racing all her life. In fact, it was only her 14th day on the road, and her fourth in a WorldTour bunch.

Last month, Courtney parked her world-title-winning career as a mountain biker and transitioned to the tarmac. It’s a move, she says, that has felt like a “huge leap”, but has already borne fruits: in June, she won the US national title on just her fourth ever road race day.

The 30-year-old now wears the stars and stripes for FDJ United-SUEZ, one of the top women’s teams in the world, who she signed a deal with last month until the end of 2028.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly at the recent Tour of Britain, Courtney reflected on her first pedal strokes in the pro peloton.

“It’s been a steep learning curve, for sure, but I’m really enjoying it,” she said.

“The biggest thing is really navigating the bunch and just being able to be a safe but confident rider out on these roads. That’s easier said than done, but I think I’ve made a lot of progress this week, and I’ve certainly gotten thrown in the deep end with British roads and British weather. It’s been a really good start and I know what I need to work on.”

Keen to learn the old-school way, Courtney travelled to Belgium last month to race kermesses, fast-paced town centre criteriums popular in the amateur scene. “It’s all about positioning and managing the bunch,” she said. She came away with two wins and a second place, carrying her form into the Tour of Britain, where she finished eleventh overall.

Courtney's aim in each race is try to stretch the limits of her comfort zone. Stage four's finish last week to Hay-on-Wye, for example, was the first bunch sprint she has ever contested.

“I think, for me, the technical sections are probably the parts where I feel most comfortable, which is ironic, but in general a lot of it is quite new, and so much of it is mental,” she said.

“Knowing that we’re heading down a hill at 60kph with 100 girls is such a different experience and feeling, and it’s something that you really have to get used to and start to learn where those limits are and push yourself, but also be safe.

“I think the other thing about the bunch is we all rely on each other – you need the other girls to be safe in order to protect you. Learning those dynamics and settling in and observing and figuring out where I need to be when is all part of that process.”

Born and raised in California, Courtney was 22 when she won the cross-country mountain bike world title in 2018, becoming the first American woman to do so in 17 years.

She’s still the reigning champion in the marathon distance, but will forgo her title defence this weekend in favour of training for her debut at September’s UCI Road World Championships in Canada. “Montréal will be hopefully my next race in four weeks,” she confirmed.

What are her goals there? “I think it’s too early for me to necessarily know what my ambitions are in these types of races,” she said. “Actually, the freedom to just compete is a really great freedom that I’m looking forward to taking advantage of all season.”

Still, it feels natural to ask what the overarching goal is of Courtney's move to the road. When Olympic mountain bike champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot made her peloton comeback in 2025, she set herself the target of winning the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift within three years, and ended up doing it in eight months.

For Courtney, the “bigger picture” is the LA Olympics in 2028. “But I would say I’m in a much different position [to Ferrand-Prévot], just because I’ve never raced on the road before this season,” she said.

“It’s been a really, really rapid rise in the level, and a lot to adapt to. I’m really grateful to the team for continuing to remind me that I can make mistakes and learn.

“When FDJ United-SUEZ cracked that door [in offering a contract], I was ready to walk right through. I’m really excited that we’ve been able to make it happen on such a crazy timeline. At the end of the day, when you get an opportunity like that, you’ve got to jump, go for it, and take it all the way.”