CANYON//SRAM Racing line up at the newly-named Bloeizone Fryslan tour in the Netherlands tomorrow. The team’s roster for the three-day stage race is Alice Barnes, Shari Bossuyt, Lisa Klein, Ella Harris, Maud Oudeman and Sarah Roy.

Lisa won the general classification (GC) in 2019 and says she’s looking forward to racing the tour again.

“I have nice memories of this race. It’s always tough racing and a real battle.”

The tour starts with a short individual time trial around Surhuisterveen tomorrow which Lisa says will already make a big impact on the overall standings. Lisa and her teammates did a training session on the course earlier today to have a feel for the course.

“The ITT will be important for GC standings. The course is great! It is going to be a short, fast and exciting time trial. There are quite a lot of corners and a painful stretch on the way back to the finish. Then, some short parts with light cobbles. I like that it is a short TT for my first one of the season,” says Lisa.

After being forced to have shoulder surgery in September last year after a training crash, Lisa said though her shoulder is still recovering, she is happy with the progress. I’ve only just been able to start riding again on the TT bike. I am curious how my shoulder will handle the cobbles on the course in the TT position too.”

“I am really looking forward to the stage and I aim for the podium tomorrow. I guess riders like Marlen (Reusser) and Ellen (van Dijk) will be super strong but I want to be right up there. It is a chance that I will use 100% to see where I stand right now compared to those riders. After the TT we will see where we are in the overall standings and prepare for the next two stages. The weather looks quite good so far. We have to see what the wind is doing to may cause major splits. I guess the second and third stage will be two exciting days of racing.”

After crashes in yesterday’s Le Samyn des Dames affecting Ella, Maud and Sarah, all three riders will be back for the Bloeizone Fryslan stage race.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The three-day tour can be followed on Twitter with #BFT22. Stages are broadcast daily on Omrop Fryslân, GCN and Eurosport. The results are also online here.

Stage 1 | Thursday 3 March | 14.4km ITT | Surhuisterveen | First rider at 12:30CET | Broadcast 13:30-15:00CET

Stage 2 | Friday 4 March | 135km | Eastermar – Bakkeveen | 11:45 – 15:00CET | Broadcast 13:00-15:00CET

Stage 3 | Saturday 5 March | 137km | Drachten – Drachten | 09:45 – 13:00CET | Broadcast 11:30-13:15CET

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