Sweden has announced its team for the World Championships in Wollongong, with a couple of forced changes due to injury and illness. The line-up of Julia Borgström, Nathalie Eklund, Hanna Nilsson and Caroline Andersson will represent Sweden in Australia. Both Borgström and Andersson will also be eligible for the U23 world title.
Julia Borgström has had a strong season at AG Insurance-NXTG this year. She has results such as 5th in GC at Gracia Orlová and 8th in the WWT level RideLondon Classique. During the spring classics, she was a regular just outside the top 10, including 14th at Omloop het Nieuwsblad and 17th at Gent Wevelgem.
Nathalie Eklund won the Tour of Uppsala, finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd on the three stages. That consistency, matched with the bonus seconds, was enough for her to win the GC by 4 seconds. Eklund also won the Swedish national time trial championship and the non-UCI Volta a Portugal. She was dominant at the latter, winning all of the stages.
Hanna Nilsson of Ceratizit-WNT took her first UCI win this season at the Tour of Uppsala. Being a veteran of the women’s peloton, it was a long time coming and a popular win. She has been a strong climbing domestique and that will come in handy in Wollongong with the repeated ascent of Mount Pleasant and Mount Keira beforehand.
Finally, Caroline Andersson is the latest addition to the Swedish squad. She’s another rider to have done well at the Tour of Uppsala, with 3 top-10 results there. Earlier in the year, she was 13th at the GP Féminin de Chambéry. She will likely support Borgström here but is also eligible for the U23 title.
“It’s a young, promising cyclist who gets the chance and participates a little to see and learn but also to see how far he can go in the U23 class.”
Lucas Persson, national team captain
Riders missing out on 2022 World Championships
Originally, the likes of Emilia Fahlin and Jenny Rissveds were due to be in the Swedish team for the 2022 World Championships. Since the start of August, Fahlin has been in strong form with 6 top-10 results. She’s confirmed to be leaving FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope at the end of this season and looked strong enough to make this Swedish team. Unfortunately for her, a crash at the Simac Ladies Tour meant that she suffered a broken wrist.
Jenny Rissveds has also had to pull out after suffering from a heavy cold this month. Rissveds is known more as a mountain biker but took the Swedish national road race this year and was 2nd in GC at Gracia Orlová behind Agnieszka Skalniak-Sojka. In becoming national champion, Rissveds dominated the race, finishing over 6 minutes ahead of Emilia Fahlin in 2nd place.
“Yes, Jenny Rissveds is turning down the WC because of a cold that won’t go away. She still has a cold and unfortunately won’t be able to ride the WC.”
Lucas Persson, national team captain
Sweden 2022 World Championships team
Road Race
Saturday 24th September 2022
Julia Borgström (AG Insurance-NXTG)
Nathalie Eklund (Massi-Tactic)
Hanna Nilsson (Ceratizit-WNT)
Caroline Andersson (Team Coop-Hitec Products)
