The peloton heads into the Ardennes. First stop is the Amstel Gold Race on a longer and hard course.
Sunday the Dutch one day race will start around 10 o `clock in Maastricht. In comparison with last year the race is almost 30 kilometres longer. The peloton has to cover 155,8 kilometres, including 21 hills. After 84 kilometres the riders will cross the finish line for the first time. After that the riders will ride a local lap of 18 kilometres with the Geulhemmerberg, Bemelerberg and Cauberg four times.
After a strong team performance in the Brabantse Pijl Liv Racing TeqFind starts with a strong squad in the race on home soil. Spanish champion Mavi Garcia will lead the team once again. She will be supported by Caroline Andersson, Marta Jaskulska, Jeanne Korevaar, Sabrina Stultiens and Quinty Ton.
For Stultiens the Amstel Gold Race is a special race. “It feels like a home race. I know all these roads since I was a kid. Last week I did some training on the parcours when I was staying on the Landal Kasteeldomein De Cauberg. Even when you know all these roads it still is good to do a recon of the local lap. The course is more or less the same as last year, only the race is a bit longer. It is a race that suits me well”, Stultiens told.
Stultiens had a good block of training before she returned to the peloton in the Brabantse Pijl. “That was a good race to get into the race rhythm again. I think we are ready for the Amstel Gold Race. All riders feel good and we all had a good preparation for this race. Also Katia`s performance in Paris-Roubaix was a true inspiration and a good motivation boost for us. Sunday the team will work for Mavi, she showed that she is in a good shape. We will try to get into the finale with a much riders as we can, so we can support Mavi in the best possible way.”