“No one counted calories, and I rode stronger” — Cofidis rider opens up on eating disorder recovery and gravel adventures

Clara Koppenburg, the German rider for Cofidis, has recently participated in the Nedbank Gravel Burn, a gravel stage race held in South Africa. She also opened up in a conversation regarding eating disorders in the peloton and how her performance changed taking into consideration her strategy. 

After finishing the event, which was won by Axelle Dubau-Prévot, with Koppenburg finishing sixth, the German hinted on social media that she might switch her focus to gravel. “Road cycling, I still love you, but right now, you’re not the right environment for me.”

Koppenburg’s post, accompanied by images of her smiling on the trails, explained her experience. “The environment that suits me best seems to be the world of gravel, a place to find myself. That smiling Clara who trusts and enjoys life, making the most of every single day. This week was different: I rode on gravel, slept in a tent under the stars, and lived the adventure. My mind was free.”

She also reflected about eating disorders, a silent issue affecting more riders than what we might think of. “I’ve recovered from my eating disorder, and I’m incredibly proud of it, but in road cycling, it’s not easy… Everything is measured, compared, weighed: grams, calories, watts per kilo… These days, no one weighed anything, no one counted calories, we just ate what was there, real food, including sweets. And I rode stronger.”

Koppenburg's only two professional victories came in 2019, when she won a stage and the general classification of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana while riding for WNT-Rotor Pro Cycling (current CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling Team, although it won't continue in 2026), beating top riders such as Soraya Paladin and Ashleigh Moolman.

She was close to repeating that success in 2020, as she finished in second place in the GC, just behind the great Anna van der Breggen. She barely raced after that due to the Covid, but she racked up a couple of top 10s in Spanish races.

After riding for the extinct Équipe Paule Ka in 2020 and Rally Cycling Women (current Human Powered Health) in 2021, she moved to Cofidis Womens' Team in 2022, the team she represents currently. In her first year, she rode a strong Tour de Suisse Women, in which she once again proved she can fight for the GC in important races, finishing in seventh place.

Her 2024 and 2025 seasons have been much quieter, especially the latter one, in which she has been almost invisible the whole year, never being close to fight for the victory in any of the races she has competed in.

However, the tables have turned after she tried gravel, as she has finished inside the top 10 in all the three events she has participated in so far.