"My French was not so good, so I couldn't talk to her," said Van Moorsel.
She recalled that communication from her rival was mostly limited to outbursts during difficult moments in the race.
"The only thing I ever heard from her was swearing. When it went too fast?
Merde! If someone rode in the way?
Merde!" said Van Moorsel.
She noted that warm interactions were entirely absent throughout their competing years.
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"She was actually never nice to me," said Van Moorsel.
Despite the severe friction, Van Moorsel admitted that Longo served as an immense athletic motivation during the formative stages of her career.
"She inspired me enormously as a young girl. Every evening I told myself that I wanted to become just like her.
Not as a person, but as a sportswoman," said Van Moorsel.
She described watching Longo dominate mountain stages with effortless grace, using that image to fuel her own transition into an elite athlete.
"The way Longo rode in that first Tour, not normal. She fluttered like a bird over the mountains.
It seemed as if it all went by itself. Her way of riding was pure fuel for me," said Van Moorsel.
That drive led Van Moorsel to extreme physical training over the winter, which eventually spiraled into severe health struggles.
"At the end of that season, as a sturdy Brabant girl, I got on the plane to a training camp and came back after three months as a fully trained sportswoman," said Van Moorsel.
