After a hard, windy Classic Brugge-De Panne the women`s peloton head to the next classic one day race: Gent-Wevelgem.
In the previous edition of Gent-Wevelgem the women made their through De Moeren for the first time. Another addition was the Kemmelberg. Both aspects are back in this year`s edition, just like the climbs Baneberg, Monteberg and Scherpenberg. The peloton will start in Ieper and finish 162,2 kilometres later in Wevelgem. The weather forecast indicates that the weather will be wet and windy. All ingredients will be there for another hard and thrilling race.
Liv Racing TeqFind comes to the start with Rachele Barbieri, Eva Buurman, Valerie Demey, Katia Ragusa, Silke Smulders and Quinty Ton. The latter finish seventh in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and is looking forward to the next Belgian one day race.
“I missed the Strade Bianche, but in the Trofeo Binda I felt good again. Unfortunately bad luck took me out of contention there. It went well during my training the last weeks and I am looking forward to this Sunday. Gent-Wevelgem was one of my first big races with the elite women, so it is always a little bit special to race here. I am sure I am grown as rider since then”, Ton said.
“We want to play a role in the final again. It will be a hard race with wind, rain, cobbles and hills. We have to stay focused all the time, especially the second half of the race. With Rachele we have a fast rider for the final part, but the weather can play a big role in the outcome of the race and we have to be prepared for all kind of scenarios.”