Professional American cyclist Veronica Ewers, 31, announced this week that she will pause training and racing in 2026 to fully recover from the long-term effects of under-fueling – an issue that remains far more common in endurance sport than many athletes realize.
In her Instagram post, Ewers shared candidly that recent bloodwork revealed her hormone levels “were still nearly non existent,” despite months of focused recovery efforts. She has also disclosed not having a menstrual cycle since 2014, a hallmark sign of low energy availability (LEA) and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs).
Her story is both deeply personal and widely resonant. Many female athletes experience LEA without recognizing the early signs – prolonged fatigue, recurring injuries, mood changes, irregular or absent menstruation – until the consequences become harder to reverse. Yet in high-performance environments, chronic under-fueling can hide in plain sight, masked by normalized extremes of training load and thinness.
Ewers described the impossible tension she felt trying to race professionally while her body was asking for rest and restoration. She also detailed the moment of reckoning that led her to step back: “I sat down with my dietician…and was devastated. I was confronted with two options: keep doing what I’ve been doing or focus on full recovery and then performance. I’ve made the decision to pursue the latter and therefore I will not continue training/racing in 2026.” She did note the goal of a comeback to professional racing, demonstrating what’s possible once full health is restored.
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Support From Fellow Athletes
The reaction to Ewers’ post has been overwhelmingly supportive, underscoring the importance of athletes speaking openly about REDs. British triathlete and Olympic medalist Georgia Taylor-Brown wrote: “Your honesty will help more people than you know. An incredibly brave decision to step back and love yourself for a while! Enjoy your reset and I’m looking forward to seeing you back in the cycling world. Thank you for being so open and honest xx now go live your life and love every second of it.”
Athletes across endurance sport have echoed the sentiment: recovery is not weakness; it is wisdom.
By sharing her story publicly, Veronica Ewers is not only taking the steps needed to restore her own health – she’s helping shift the culture of endurance sport toward one where athletes understand that eating enough is a performance tool, not a liability.
The post Veronica Ewers’ Decision to Step Back Puts a Spotlight on Under-Fueling and REDs in Endurance Sport appeared first on Triathlon Magazine Canada.