For the second time the riders will ride Paris-Roubaix Femmes, the Hell of the North. No rain and mud, but dust and sun this year. The course is still hard enough to make it an epic race.
Last year the inaugural edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes was a thrilling one due to the rain and slippery muddy cobblestone sections. Saturday it is expected to be dry and sunny, so there will be some dust en route to the famous velodrome in Roubaix.
The peloton will start in Denain and has to tackle 17 sectors of cobblestones, 29.2 of the 124 km are cobbles. Mons-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l`Abre are the two sections with a five star difficulty rating. Liv Racing Xstra starts with five riders: Valerie Demey, Alison Jackson, Amber van der Hulst, Katia Ragusa and Silke Smulders.
Sports director Wim Stroetinga will guide the riders from the team car and previews on Saturday`s race: “It will be a different race then last year due to the weather conditions. The first sector will be very important. You have to be in the front there and try to stay out of trouble as much as you can. Positioning for the sectors and focus on the cobblestones will be very important. We will have to see how the race evolves and anticipate for every situation. All riders are in good shape and are looking forward to start. For sure it will be another epic race. We want to show our purple colours as much as we can.”