Fire and ice: Olympian cyclist Tiffany Cromwell and F1 star Valtteri Bottas share their love story
Tiffany Cromwell and Valtteri Bottas were slammed for the speediness of going public after his divorce. They’re now ready to tell their truth.
Relationships
Don't miss out on the headlines from Relationships. Followed categories will be added to My News.
It seemed inevitable. The paths of Olympic cyclist Tiffany Cromwell and Finnish Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas kept crossing, time and time again, as if fate itself was drawing them together.
The first time was in the glamorous city of Monaco. South Australian born-and-bred Cromwell was living in the opulent French Riviera city-state, and headed out to meet friends at a nearby pub.
In the group was blond-haired, blue-eyed Bottas. An instant attraction? A spark of love? Not quite. They chatted, the night ended and they both went back to their normal lives.
Well, the normal lives of top performing, world-class athletes. A rigorous rendition of training sessions, worldwide travel and fierce competitions. But it wasn’t long before their paths crossed again and again, usually when their friends came together for dinners or nights out in spots across Europe.
It was a cycling trip aroundthe South of France that cemented their friendship. Long days on the road, evenings spent talking. But for them both, back then, it started as nothing more than friendship.
“He didn’t give off a lot to start with, but step-by-step, we figured out pretty quickly there’s many common interests,” says Cromwell. “You know, good food, good coffee, good gin.
“You didn’t really know good coffee when I first met you, I educated you a little bit,” she teases. Bottas nods in agreement, adding, “Yeah, I was like high in coffee consumption, but not necessarily (high) quality. But that’s changed now.”
Then in 2019, the 35-year-old racing driver swapped the cold winter of Finland for an Australian summer, arriving in Cromwell’s home state of South Australia in December.
“The first trip was awesome … I landed on Boxing Day morning at the airport and (went) straight from the airport to the full family gathering,” Bottas says.
Cromwell laughs, “We always do Dad’s side of the family (on Boxing Day) and I was like, ‘Oh, I have a friend coming.’ So they’re like ‘Oh, bring him.’ So then I gave him the option and he was happy to get thrown into the deep end.”
For the next month, the long warm days were filled with visits to the many beaches that line the coast of Adelaide, cycling through the state’s top vineyards and simply getting to know each other.
By the end of summer, that friendship had evolved into a fully-fledged romance. And the new couple moved in together by the time summer rolled into autumn, with Bottas admitting it was “meant to be”.
On paper, a magical start to a magical romance. But there was one niggling issue: just four months before, Bottas had announced his divorce from wife of three years Emilia Pikkarainen. On Twitter in November 2019, he shared how he had ended his marriage with Pikkarainen over “the challenges my career and life situation bring”, stating he hoped to remain friends.
But fast forward four months, and a loved-up Bottas and Cromwell went public by sharing a series of pictures on social media. The criticism was swift.
One commenter on Bottas’ social post wrote: “OMG! The ink hasn’t even dried on the divorce papers yet #Shocking #NotImpressed.” Another added: “OMG that’s fast.”
That was five years ago, this weekend, and the couple, speaking for the first time about the origin of their relationship, admit it was tough.
“You learn to deal with it,” Bottas explains. “The main thing is not to take it too seriously. We definitely like minding our business and living the way we want and just be who we are.
“There’s always somebody who’s not going to like that but that’s just the way it goes. So it’s better to focus that energy into our life than any negativity around.”
Cromwell, a 36-year-old road and gravel cyclist, admits that at times the criticism took its toll but Bottas’ easygoing nature helped keep her calm. In fact, Cromwell believes their differences make their relationship so strong.
“Like yin-yang,” Cromwell says. “Fire and ice, Finland and Australia,” Bottas adds.
Cromwell, from Stirling in the Adelaide Hills, says: “For sure there’s always moments … probably more so me … where I get worked up over silly stuff where he’s like the calm one. If you’re both too intense, you’re butting heads and normally that’s (when you get) the explosions. Whereas (there’s balance) when you have one who’s more calm than the other.”
As professional athletes, they also have a shared understanding of the “up and down moments” that come from their careers and how to handle them.
“It’s quite easy to relate, you know, when you both are in sports and when you do sacrifice a lot mentally and physically,” Bottas says.
“You do always have disappointments in sport and it’s (knowing) how to deal with those and how to help the partner with those.”
Cromwell adds: “In our sports, like, you’re always surrounded by people and always surrounded by big teams … you realise how important your smaller circle is and the people you can really trust in it as well.”
Even with crazy schedules and careers that take them all over the world, they make time for each other wherever possible. Especially to support each other on the track.
“I’ve become a big fan of cycling, so I also really, really enjoy going there and seeing the racing action and supporting her,” Bottas says.
“If he’s at my races, for sure, there’s always extra motivation when you’ve got someone you care (about) supporting you,” says Cromwell.
“You have to be pretty selfish in your sport but it shows that we still also want each other to do the best.
“We’re fortunate, for both of us, we have to mainly be in Europe and then we can also be wherever if we’re not racing to do our training, so it actually means we can see each other more than what people maybe think.”
The couple are now based in Monaco, where Cromwell trains for professional women’s cycling team Liv Racing TeqFind.
Bottas says: “For me, living in Europe, travelling is easy, you know, it’s easy to hop between the countries and even from Monaco to Finland might seem far, but it’s actually less than a three-hour flight, so I try to go back when I can. So, I think it’s much harder for Tiffany who (can only) see family once or twice a year.”
Cromwell adds: “Of course, it’s sad you may miss some moments like weddings or whatever because when there’s something happening at home, it’s a long way to go, but otherwise, I think these days … because I’ve been away so long … it’s become a bit more normal. But, of course, it’s always nice to get back and see everyone and then particularly for my racing, you know, they don’t (always) get to be there and see my racing so being here, particularly for Tour Down Under, having my family, my friends on the roadside, that’s always pretty nice.”
The couple look forward to their annual trip Down Under and always try to see something new. While Cromwell is more often the designated tour guide, she’s enjoyed discovering her hometown’s hidden gems.
“We always try to look for new places to visit, nice lunch spots, nice wineries. We always travel with our bikes, and we get to see a lot that you normally wouldn’t see with a car,” she says.
“I love it, you know, obviously we’ve been here quite a few times now but even for me, it’s letting me discover South Australia as well. Like, you grew up here, but you don’t appreciate everything happening and what Australia has to offer. And it gives you more of a reason to just get out there.”
This summer they decided to go on a road trip along the Eyre Peninsula, stopping in Clare Valley, Louth Island, Baird Bay, and Port Lincoln. One of their many highlights included swimming with sea lions and dolphins in Baird Bay which they said they’ll never forget.
“That’s like a once-in-a-lifetime thing and that was great, there’s many, many highlights but that really stands out,” Bottas says.
“We got double lucky because then the next day we went surfing and first there was like a sea lion swimming in the surf and then a pod of dolphins came up to us when we were in the surf,” Cromwell says.
While Australia and Finland are undoubtedly completely different, SA has become a second home to Bottas who has embraced Aussie culture with open arms, from getting a mullet to partnering with beer company VB to rocking the iconic budgie smugglers.
“It’s the complete opposite, which I think is why I like it,” he says. “At this time (of year) Finland is freezing cold, covered in snow, it’s very dark and here it’s the exact opposite.
“But what surprised me actually is that the humour is quite similar. You’ve got this good, dry sense of humour. People are not afraid of making fun of themselves and especially your friends. So yeah, I think the sense of humour is something that connects Finns and Aussies.”
True foodies through and through, when they aren’t training or restaurant-hopping they love to cook together at home in Monaco.
“I love creative cooking, I love flavours,” Cromwell says. “I think Valtteri just follows. Like, I know what he likes, but I’m like, okay, we need to try this, this, and this.
“When you’re travelling everywhere, it’s more challenging. But, yeah, he’s more the breakfast person, so I let him do that, so I can have the slow morning and then, for dinners, I really enjoy kind of piecing things together. We often do taco Tuesday, we haven’t for a while but that was quite regular.”
Bottas adds: “We quite often do some spicy stuff like Thai vibes, barbecue but here (in Australia) I’ve really become an expert of sausage sizzle on this trip so I think I have to do a sausage sizzle when I get back to Europe.”
They’re also quite the gin connoisseurs, with gin and tonic being their go-to drink on date nights and collecting local gin from all the places they visit on their travels.
“When we first started dating, it was like, okay, we’ll have a gin and tonic at the start of a lot of our dinners or catch ups,” Cromwell says.
“We fortunately travel a lot through our jobs, through our sports, and then we started collecting. We’d always search for the local gin distilleries and try it, or just go and buy a local bottle from wherever we were travelling and bring it back for each other, or we would collect it together.”
Their love for gin would eventually inspire them to make their own, leading to the creation of their own brand, Oath Gin. But it’s more than just gin for the couple, with its formula representing their respective roots, inspired by the oats grown in Bottas’ family fields and apples grown in the Adelaide Hills where Cromwell grew up.
“The main thing was we just wanted to represent us, we wanted to represent Australia and Finland,” Cromwell says.
“It’s nice that we can then connect that story to the formula. It’s a wholesome product, you know, we don’t just put our name on something and say we’re happy with it.
“We’re always striving for perfection in our sports and perfection in whatever we do.
“We’re striving for high quality and all these sorts of things, you know, and that’s what Oath is in a bottle.”
Inside the bottle is a poem that can only be read from a certain angle which serves as Oath’s own oath, representing “starting from the ground up” in the spirit of true Aussie grit and Finnish sisu (strength of will).
Three years after launching the brand in Finland where it’s distilled, they were finally able to officially launch in Australia last month right here in Adelaide.
It was only fitting that it be launched in Adelaide with the couple selecting one of their go-to restaurants, arkhé, to host the event.
“Every trip, we do at least one or two dinners here,” Cromwell says.
Bottas continues: “It’s a good spot. If I have to choose one item, it is the Wagyu beef. They do everything all in open fire, they don’t use electricity or gas at all. It’s all fire and charcoal which is pretty cool.”
While sport remains their main focus, their passion project has given them an opportunity to grow and work together as business partners.
“We’ve learned a lot along the way, especially about how difficult alcohol laws are in different countries,” Bottas laughs. “It’s just exciting, I think we are people that if we see potential in something that we really enjoy doing, we kind of jump into it and then deal with some of the things later. So, like working together … not just as a couple of business partners, I think we’re quite good at it.”
Cromwell says: “It’s been nice to do something that we can do truly together, but then also have people there in the background helping us pull it all together when we don’t have the time or the headspace.”
Now gearing up to return to their respective racetracks, the couple admit there’s plenty of projects they’d like to work on but more than anything, it’s about spending time together and always having a laugh. “She has a good sense of humour. She likes to laugh about my silliness and she’s a bit fiery which I like,” Bottas smiles.
“And he doesn’t take himself too seriously,” Cromwell adds. “He can keep a really straight face and make a joke. So then it’s like (deadpan) funny. Sometimes people don’t always get that he’s making a joke.”
“Which makes it fun for me,” adds Bottas.
There’s no doubt that this couple, whether they’re cycling through the foothills of South Australia, dining in Monaco, racing in their respective fields or creating their own brand of gin, the fire and ice of their romance sure works.
More Coverage
Originally published as Fire and ice: Olympian cyclist Tiffany Cromwell and F1 star Valtteri Bottas share their love story
Wild amount Aussie man spent his Valentine
Valentine’s day spending is set to break all-time records this year, with this one generation about to drop the big bucks to impress their partners.
Australia’s top singles suburbs revealed
Are you a single lady looking for love? Or a fellow ready to grow up from the bachelor life? Here’s where you need to go to be hit with Cupid’s arrow.