Alina Abramenko

Alina Abramenko grew up in Minsk, Belarus, and found cycling almost by accident at school. Her biggest early memory is a national time-trial championship she was sure she had won — and had.

The dream of racing in Europe ran into money and connections. She raced for a club in Portugal, spent three months racing in China and joined a team in Dubai, always looking for the way to the top level — until she found the Flandrien Scholarship online. In Belgium she discovered a different world: cobbles, narrow roads and fields of more than 100 riders, compared with ten elite women at the start of her national championship.

Through mentoring conversations with Jamie Anderson, Alina began thinking beyond her racing career. Now she is helping build a new cycling academy in Spain, which she will lead, with one goal: a safe pathway to Europe for young women from Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.