FINDING BACK THE JOY FROM HER 2021. Two hard crashes sutained during the summer of 2022 at the Giro Donne and Le Tour Femmes, and the subsequent wear and tear heading into the late season, overshadowed the Dane’s performance last year with the Telefónica-backed squad. Still, the overview on the first two years with the Blues -she’s got a contract with them for an additional two, through the end of 2024- is more than satisfactory. Nine victories, including three obtained last year with her first classic, Le Samyn; the Danish ITT championships; and the French event Kreiz Breizh in Brittany, all underline the quality of Emma on the sprints and tough classics, and wherever she’s needed by her leaders, such as Annemiek van Vleuten. She remains a big reference of the Movistar Team wherever she competes.

COMMANDING VICTORIES. She claimed the 2016 Danish road race championships while still being a 16-year-old junior rider; claimed stage one of the 2020 Setmana Valenciana -against now-teammate Arlenis Sierra- and conquered a second national title later in the summer; and exploded in 2021 with no less than six other wins: two stages + the GC of the Festival Elsy Jacobs in Luxembourg; the opening stage of the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour, where she finished on the overall podium; the Danish ITT Champs; and, most importanly, her first Grand Tour stage on day six of the Giro Donne.

CYCLING AT HOME. It’s inevitable to talk about the Norsgaard surname without citing a beautiful honour: Emma and brother Mathias are the first opposite-sex siblings to become members of the same UCI WorldTour (men’s and women’s) organisation. The case goes on further as Emma got married in 2021 to another household name of Danish cycling: Mikkel Norsgaard Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates), a three-time U23 ITT World Champion and an impressive rouleur whose abilities are shared by his wife (now sharing those last names with Mikkel, yet she prefers to maintain her ‘sporting name’). All three live between Denmark, the Pyrenees and Girona, where they share a passion that has turned into their job.