British road race champion Pfeiffer Georgi tells Cyclist about her racing upbringing, the crash that almost ended her career, her incredible 2023 season and why she loves the wind and rain
Words Mark Bailey Photography David Powell
P feiffer Georgi is made of tough stuff. ‘I just love bad weather and cold, really dramatic races,’ chuckles the 23-year-old, who after a breakthrough 2023 season is now Britain’s most in-form female rider. ‘I’ve always loved training if there was sideways rain and wind, just because I felt like I was doing something different and dramatic. That has always excited me, so races like Flanders and Roubaix would be my dream races to win. They’re so iconic and so hard.’
Georgi’s natural grit, physical durability and emotional resilience give her an edge, but these qualities also explain how the DSM road captain achieved such an astonishing comeback, from lying in a ditch with a broken back following a horrific crash at Brugge-De Panne in 2020 to claiming her first WorldTour win at the same race last sesason.
She also won Binche-Chimay-Binche and Dwars door de Westhoek, secured top ten finishes at Paris-Roubaix (8th), Strade Bianche (9th), Amstel Gold (7th) and Omloop het Nieuwsblad (5th), and bagged her second national road race title on an attritional 132km course, with an explosive final climb in Saltburnby-the-Sea.
‘Getting my first WorldTour win at De Panne was an unexpected day for me, and that gave me a lot of confidence that I can be one of the best in the races that suit me,’ says Georgi. ‘It’s really exciting to see where I could be, and what rider I can still develop into.’
Born on a bike
Pfeiffer Georgi is the kind of mellifluous name destined for stardom. She thinks her first name was chosen by her mum Louise after seeing the actress Michelle Pfeiffer on TV, while her surname evokes the Greek-Cypriot heritage of dad Peter. Certainly she was always going to cycle: it’s a passion shared by her dad, who raced for Great Britain in his youth and has won multiple national masters titles; her mum, who raced track, road and time-trials; her older brother Etienne, who rode for Team Wiggins before joining the Army; and her grandad Ronald.
But the resilience that powers her through wet rides and dark times is a quality Georgi has shown ever since, aged four, she took her first spin at Herne Hill, near her home in London.
‘I got really tired and stopped and I was flung over the handlebars,’ she says. ‘My arms w
