Liv Racing welcomes two riders with great potential. Dutch riders Eva Buurman and Amber van der Hulst have signed a two-year contract with the UCI WorldTeam. After Rachele Barbieri and Katia Ragusa they are the third and fourth reinforcements for 2022.
Amber van der Hulst is only 22 years young, but has nevertheless already achieved several good results. This year, she came third in the Grand Prix International d’Isbergues – Pas de Calais Féminin. In the five stages of the Baloise Belgium Tour (including the prologue) she finished in the top ten four times. In the Healthy Ageing Tour she also had a number of great results, with eighth place in stage three on and around the VAMberg in Drenthe as her personal highlight.
“I am very happy with my transfer to Liv Racing. After a good time with my current team I hope to take the next step in my career here. I am still young, there is a lot of room for improvement. Liv Racing can play an important role in that. I feel I will get space to develop myself here. The coaching staff supports me in a kind of voyage of discovery. Many aspects of cycling suit me, but what am I really good at? What can I mean for the team? Together with the team I want to specialise.”
“If you ask me now what I was born for, it would be the spring classics. I have a decent sprint and have also shown that my sprint is still reasonable after a hard race. My sprint is still far from optimal. I hope to improve on that specific point in the time to come. That is why it is nice to have sports managers like Giorgia Bronzini and Wim Stroetinga in the team. They have a lot of experience when it comes to sprinting, and also in other areas. I can learn from them, both on the road and on the track.”
Confidence
Eva Buurman hopes to give her career a new impulse at Liv Racing. The rider from North-Holland has been a professional for eight years now and has achieved many good results and places of honour during that time. The big breakthrough did not happen yet. This season she unfortunately struggled with overtraining. “I was exhausted both physically and mentally. The Tour of Flanders was my last race this season. In the weeks after, I felt very empty. I was exhausted, I couldn’t do it anymore.”
It was exactly during this period that Liv Racing team manager Eric van den Boom contacted Buurman. “I thought: you can always talk. We spoke to each other and I told him honestly that I was not doing well. Instead of the door being shut for that reason, it was opened wide. There was interest, I felt confidence. ‘We are going to get back on track together!’ That gave me a lot of confidence. I said to myself: ‘Eef, take this chance, this is a great team to get back on your level!’”
“For next season that is my main goal. Step by step I want to get back to my old level and experience the enormous pleasure again. That is a prerequisite for me to be successful. At Liv Racing I expect to make steps in the right direction. I am given time and space. The management has a lot of confidence in me and is patient. That means a lot to me.”
Photo credits: Cor Vos