Team BikeExchange-Jayco Women aim to keep momentum rolling at Tour de Suisse

After a successful past few weeks, Team BikeExchange-Jayco will head to the Tour de Suisse with multiple options for the four-day stage race, and with the aim of building on recent momentum.

Fresh off the back of impressive displays at the Womenโ€™s Tour, Kristen Faulkner and Georgia Williams will bring form and confidence to Switzerland, as the team targets stages and the GC.

The short, flat opening stage will present Georgia Baker with an opportunity to show her speed, as she comes into the race in great form following her recent stage win in Thuringen. Jess Allen will race for the first time since getting injured at the German race at the end of last month.

Urลกka ลฝigart and Chelsie Tan complete a well-balanced and strong squad, as the team looks to take advantage of the talent it brings to Switzerland.

Team BikeExchange-Jayco rider line-up:
Jessica Allen (AUS)
Georgia Baker (AUS)
Kristen Faulkner (USA)
Chelsie Tan (SGP)
Georgia Williams (NZL)
Urลกka ลฝigart (SLO)

Kristen Faulkner
โ€œI think going into Tour de Suisse weโ€™re bringing a strong and well-rounded team. Georgia Baker will likely do well in the opening stage. We have Georgia Williams โ€“ the New Zealand national TT champion โ€“ who can do well in the time trial, and Iโ€™ll also hope to, and we have a good climbing squad. I think we have opportunities for stages and the GC.

We have the numbers to play different cards on each stage. I think the Womenโ€™s Tour showed we have a deep team and weโ€™re able to use our numbers, and hopefully we can do that again at Tour de Suisse and have the strength in numbers to follow lots of attacks.

Iโ€™m really looking forward to it and I think itโ€™s a race that will test a lot of different skills. You have the crit, the TT and then the hilltop and non-hilltop finishes, so four very different stages and I think with our line-up we can do well in all of them.โ€

Georgia Williams
โ€œItโ€™s the first time we race at Tour de Suisse, so itโ€™s very exciting. Iโ€™m happy with how Iโ€™ve been racing lately, in Spain and Britain. We have a TT on Stage 2 which Iโ€™m hoping to give a good shot at.

We donโ€™t get many TTs during the year, and Iโ€™ll also be in my national champion jersey, which is always fun and motivating. I think that after the TT we could have an idea on who could be best for GC, and we have a few options, so it should be a good race.โ€

Alejandro Gonzalez-Tablas (Sport Director)
โ€œWe come into the Tour de Suisse with lots of ambition and an open plan โ€“ we have several cards we can play.

We have a team here which can aim for stage wins and a good GC classification. Obviously, Kristen comes into the race in really good condition and with confidence from the Womenโ€™s Tour, as does Georgia Williams who has shown great form supporting the team there. We have another block of riders coming out of some good preparation either in altitude or from home. 

Obviously the GC will be played out in the long ITT and the final uphill finish on the last day. There will be opportunities for stage results on stages 1 and 3, with potential reduced groups coming to the line. 

The momentum is great in the team and we just want to keep it rolling.โ€

2022 Tour de Suisse โ€“ Race Details:
Saturday, June 18th, Stage 1: Vaduz to Vaduz (46km)
Sunday, June 19th, Stage 2 (ITT): Vaduz to Vaduz (25.6km)
Monday, June 20th, Stage 3: Vaduz to Chur (124.2km)
Tuesday, June 21st, Stage 4: Chur to Lantsch/Lenz (98.5km)

Photo: Getty Images

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Mathew Mitchell
Mathew Mitchellhttp://procyclinguk.com
My name is Mathew Mitchell, 30-something from Staffordshire, UK. Over the last few years, I've got more and more into cycling, from the first innocent Sportive events to Audaxes, Go-Races, British Cycling racing, Time Trials and now Cyclocross.

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