Amber Kraak, who has been part of Team Jumbo-Visma Women since June, rode her first time trial ever. On the climb to the ski resort of Manzaneda, she rode a respectable 14th time. “This was my first real time trial at competition level. It felt good from the start. I was able to ride consistently. I was hoping for a place among the first twenty-five, but the top fifteen was above my expectations. I am very satisfied with today’s result.”
Sports director Marco Postma had seen a solid performance from his team on the selective course. “Amber showed today what she is capable of. She performed super good. She went in with a good plan and she lived up to what she showed us in earlier tests. It shows how much she has to offer and that she can still improve in the road races. For Riejanne Markus this was a very nice rehearsal for the European Championships. We chose the same setup as for the European Championships and that is not optimal for a climbing time trial. What she showed here is therefore very good and we can be satisfied with that. Now on to tomorrow. The last two stages suit us much better than the first one. In the coming days we will go for it.”