Team BikeExchange-Jayco women head to Northern Spain this week ready for a busy block of racing which begins with three one-day classics. The first event is on Sunday 8th May with Gran Premio Ciudad de Eibar, followed by one rest day then Emakumeen Nafarroako and Navarra Women’s Elite Classic.
Ready to make the most of their opportunities, the squad come with an aggressive racing approach led by local Basque rider Ane Santesteban. The team will switch up for the races allowing all riders to have their own opportunities but alongside Santesteban in all three races, will be Slovenian rider Urska Zigart, Australian rider Ruby Roseman-Gannon and Singapore’s Chelsie Tan.
Australian rider Georgia Baker and plus Dutch domestique Nina Kessler will race Eibar before switching with New Zealander Georgia Williams and American rider Kristen Faulkner, who makes a return to racing following a period of illness and injury.
The relentlessly hilly terrain in the area makes for hard racing as always, with the three events preluding two WorldTour stage races the following weeks.
Team BikeExchange-Jayco Line-up at Eibar 8th:
Georgia Baker (AUS)
Nina Kessler (NED)
Ruby Roseman-Gannon (AUS)
Ane Santesteban (ESP)
Chelsie Tan (SGP)
Urska Zigart (SLO)
Navarra Classics 10th & 11th:
Kristen Faulkner (USA)
Ruby Roseman-Gannon (AUS)
Ane Santesteban (ESP)
Chelsie Tan (SGP)
Georgia Williams (NZL)
Urska Zigart (SLO)
Ane Santesteban
“I am really looking forward to these races specially the race on Sunday in Eibar as we race along roads that I do often train on and that makes it really special. By being in the Basque Country with my family and friends on the road, it really motivates me. These races in May in Spain are all races that are some of my goals of the season.
These races will be really aggressive and unpredictable, but we are ready for that. We have a good mixture, we have some climbers but also some fast riders which can win also from a sprint or breakaway so we are ready to race aggressively, and take our opportunities in these first one-day races.”
Alejandro Gonzales-Tablas (Sport Director)
“We’re looking forward to racing in Spain, it is a busy block of racing with a bit of everything, so we have a great opportunity here to race aggressively and allow riders to take their own opportunities.
We’ve seen over the last month in Belgium and Holland that the form is there, they’ve had some good consistent results, we’re just missing everything coming together on the day for us to take some much-deserved victories. These three one-day races will be a good place for us to begin, race aggressively and take every opportunity.”
2022 Race Details:
Sunday, 8th May: Gran Premio Ciudad de Eibar – Eibar to Eibar, 113km
Tuesday, 10th May: Emakumeen Nafarroako – Irurzun to Irurzun, 137.5km
Wednesday, 11th May: Navarra Women’s Elite Classic – Pamplona to Pamplona, 124.8km
Photo: Chris Auld