After a tough first day Silke Smulders made a solid performance in the third and fourth stage of the Tour of Scandinavia.
Liv Racing TeqFind started the Tour of Scandinavia well with a top-10 result of Marta Jaskulska in the first stage. After a hard second stage with the climb to Njorefell a hilly stage to Larvik waited for the riders. It was another hard final for the peloton. Silke Smulders and Caroline Andersson managed to stay in the first group until the finish. Both Liv Racing TeqFind riders finished in the top-30.
The peloton headed to Denmark for an individual time trial in Herning. Smulders delivered another solid performance in the 16,5 kilometres against the clock. Eventually she finished 25th, a little more than one minute behind stage winner Grace Brown.
“The day before the race I felt sick. The first day was really hard, but the second day I felt better and better. During the third stage I had a strong feeling again. Before the final climb I sat a little bit too far and then in the final I was held up by a crash. So afterwards I had the feeling that I have could done a little bit better, but still I was glad I found back my good legs. The time trial went good as well. I felt strong and finished 25th. A confirmation that my time trial improved a lot this year. I hope I can continue this upwards line and show myself once again tomorrow”, Smulders told after the race.