A busy weekend for the Liv Racing Xstra riders with the national championships coming up. The team will be active in six different countries.
The week of the national championships is always special and busy for all riders in the team. Almost every rider gets back to her home country to compete in the road race or time trial. Marta Jaskulska was already active during the nationals. She took a bronze medal in the time trial. This weekend she will also take part in the road race. Also Valerie Demey (Belgium) and Tereza Neumanova (Czech Republic) will start in the road race of their country. “All three riders riders are the only Liv Racing Xstra rider in that championship. So they have to be smart and have a little luck too. Tereza is one of the favorites and she has to take initiative to make the race hard in order to have a chance at the title”, sports director Wim Stroetinga told.
Rachele Barbieri and Katia Ragusa will defend the team colors during the Italian championships. “The parcours is relatively flat over there, so there is a chance there will be a sprint. Rachele has a chance then, but it won`t be easy with amongst others the reigning world champion Balsamo also at the start line.”
In The Netherlands Liv Racing Xstra will bring Eva Buurman, Jeanne Korevaar, Sabrina Stultiens, Quinty Ton and Thalita de Jong to the start. “We are excited to show our team colors on our home roads. Several scenario`s are possible in this title race. When a big group will go in the beginning of the race we have to be in there for sure. For Sabrina it will be her first race since a very long time. She and Eva will try and help their team mates as much as they can. In the final part of the race our eyes are on Quinty, Jeanne and Thalita. We want to play our role in the finale and aim for the highest”, Stroetinga previewed on the Dutch nationals.
Alison Jackson travelled to Canada for her nationals. Unfortunately Jackson fell ill and couldn`t defend her time trial title. Her participation for the road race is still unsure.