We go into Sunday’s Gent Wevelgem with a roster of Alice Barnes, Alena Amialiusik, Hannah Barnes, Tiffany Cromwell, Lisa Klein and Alexis Ryan.

With a start in Ieper and finish in Wevelgem, the parcours has seven climbs, with most of those packed into the mid-section of the 141km race.

“We do the two main climbs that we have done in previous editions but in a different order which will add a twist to the race,” said Hannah.

The British rider is enjoying a return to a purple patch of form, after finishing sixth in last weekend’s Liegé-Bastogne-Liegé.

“I can’t put my finger on the main reason for my good form. I am enjoying myself and really enjoying the aggressive racing that we have had since the re-start of the season,” said Hannah.

While Hannah has had a solid race program since finishing the Giro Rosa stage race, her teammate Alena returns to racing after being forced to withdraw from the women’s road race in Imola world championships due to illness.

“I am fully recovered, I’ve been training at full strength, and I feel good on the bike,” explained Alena.

“I was sad to miss some of my favourite races in the Ardennes classics, so I’m looking forward to Gent Wevelgem.”

The first two classics were won aggressively from a group that went quite far away from the finish. Let’s see if there’s wind on Sunday, but the key moment is the positioning before the climbs, especially the Monteberg – Kemmelberg combination. There can be pressure on those climbs, but even more pressure after them.”

The Women’s WorldTour race can be followed on Twitter with #GWEwomen and #UCIWWT. Racing action starts at 10:45CEST and the race will be broadcast on GCN app and Eurosport.

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