Norway has announced its riders that will be heading to Wollongong for the 2022 World Championships. Already announced that they wouldn’t be taking any women’s junior riders, their line-up is simply the elite women’s team.
Susanne Andersen was due to be selected but in breaking her collarbone in the Simac Ladies Tour, will no longer be able to represent the Norway team. It’s been a tough season for Andersen who has broken her collarbone twice in a year. The first break saw her miss out on the rebooted Tour de France Femmes and now this major goal of the World Championships will also be missed.
“Among the ladies, Katrine Aalerud has shown good autumn form, and this is a course that should suit her very well. Susanne Andersen broke her collarbone last week and regrettably will not be part of the team.”
Hans Falk, Norway head of sports
That means Katrine Aalerud of Movistar will lead the team and she should be able to get over the climbs on the course without any difficulty. If it comes down to a sprint, however, that will reduce the likelihood of a medal. She’s supported by a pair of riders from the Norwegian teams of Uno-X and Coop-Hitec Products. Ingvild Gåskjenn has had a strong season and will be moving up to the Women’s WorldTour with BikeExchange-Jayco in 2023. She should be the strongest lieutenant for Aalerud.
Mari Hole Mohr has had a good year too that includes a win at the Tour of Uppsala at the start of August. She was also the highest Norwegian finisher at the U23 European Championships. Anne Dorthe Ysland had a strong 2021 season but has found 2022 tougher thanks to injuries. Suffering from a concussion and a severe cold earlier in the year, she’s struggled with saddle sores and a parasitic infection since the Women’s Tour in June. Her potential is clear though. Marte Berg Edseth is an interesting selection with only a 10th at the Rutal del Sol and 7th in the 1.2 level Ladies Tour of Norway her best results of the season.
That means there are no spaces available for the likes of Stine Borgli who has been going strong on FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope this season, nor the Norwegian national champion Malin Eriksen who must wonder what more she needs to do for selection. In fact, looking at the current UCI rankings, Nora Tveit, Vibeke Lystad, Ane Iversen and Martine Gjøs all currently have had stronger results this season than the Uno-X pair of Edseth and Ysland.
Norway 2022 World Championships team
Road Race
Saturday 24th September 2022
Katrine Aalerud (Movistar)
Marte Berg Edseth (Uno-X)
Mari Hole Mohr (Coop-Hitec Products)
Anne Dorthe Ysland (Uno-X)
Ingvild Gåskjenn (Coop-Hitec Products)
