The Women’s WorldTour returns to Scandinavia this weekend with the Vårgårda West Sweden races, beginning with Saturday’s team time trial. For Team SD Worx, it’s a blend of Giro and Tour de France Femmes riders lining up. Blanka Vas and Elena Cecchini come in from the Giro d’Italia Women, while Christine Majerus, Chantal van den Broek-Blaak and Demi Vollering will roll out again just a week after the Tour de France Femmes.
One notable omission is Marlen Reusser, still sidelined after a concussion sustained in her stage 6 crash at the Tour. Sport director Lars Boom acknowledged her absence as a blow. “Marlen’s absence is a setback for our team time trial in Vårgårda, as a time trial specialist she could have helped our team, but we don’t want to take any risks with her,” he said. Despite that, Boom sees opportunity with the riders available. “With the current selection we can certainly go to the team time trial with ambition. It is in any case a strong block, which can work in various fields. With the versatility of this team, a lot is possible in the road race on Sunday.”
The Sunday road race brings a reworked course on its first post-Covid edition. The gravel makes an early appearance this time, with all three sterrato sections coming in the opening 30 kilometres: Stockabo (3.5 km), Korpas (2.3 km) and Kvinnestad (3.1 km). From there, the peloton tackles eight laps of an 11-kilometre circuit featuring the Hägrunga slope (1.1 km at 4%). Boom expects the terrain to shape the racing. “It will be important to make the race hard, so the sprinters will hopefully have a hard time. A fast explosive type has an advantage here. With this selection we have a chance.”
