Catalina Soto Campos joins NXTG racing in 2021. The 19-year old Chilean rider signs a contract for two years with the only UCI women’s development team.
NXTG Racing is a really good place to develop. The program the team has makes that I can learn many different aspects of cycling. I also look forward to learning from my new teammates and can’t wait to start this new adventure. It’s scary and exciting at the same time but it’s time to get out of my comfort zone now.
Soto Campos comes from Chile but grew up in Australia. After an aggressive junior road race in Yorkshire 2019 where she was on the attack, she joined the World Cycling Centre of the UCI in Aigle, Switzerland. This year she already showed her potential in the Belgian cobbled classics like Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (38th) and GP Le Samyn (16th). She recently sprinted to her first top ten place in a UCI-race in the final stage of Tour de l’Ardèche.
I love racing in Belgium. My first junior race in Europe was in Belgium and my first elite race this year as well. The food is good too and the racing is always hard. I don’t know yet what kind of rider I am or will become. I can climb a little, sprint a little and I can do punchy climbs.
Currently living in Switzerland, Catalina will relocate to the Watersley Sports & Talent Park. She applied for a place at the University of Maastricht.
I decided to do Global Studies. My mum studied law but law is always very country-specific. I hope I get accepted at the university because I can’t wait to study and be part of NXTG Racing.
Sports director Kelvin Dekker is happy the team could sign Soto Campos.
She will be a great addition to our team. She has already shown some of her talent and I can’t wait to work with her and see how she will develop. I am now thinking of her as a classics rider but think we could see her in the sprints too.
Catalina Soto Campos is the fifth and last new signing for NXTG Racing for 2021. Mylène de Zoete (NED), Amelia Sharpe (GBR), Maud Rijnbeek (NED) and Ilse Pluimers (NED), the latter two coming from our junior women’s APB development, signed before.