Liege - Bastogne- Liege 17 April 2010
Last Updated: 12 April 2010
GWR GOES INTERNATIONAL AT LIEGE-BASTOGNE-LIEGE ESPOIRS
The Swindon based GWR Team take their first step onto the International stage next weekend at one of the hardest races on the calendar, the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Espoirs race in Belgium on Saturday 17th April.
With 32 teams entered for the 178 kilometre race in the Ardennes, almost 200 riders will start the event, where the GWR Team, the sole British representative, will face national teams from USA and Norway, plus strong club and UCI Continental teams from Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Italy and Holland, among them several development teams for ProTour squads
The race has seen several of its star performers move into the top teams on the international circuit, with last years winner Rasmus Guldhammer now riding with Mark Cavendish on Team HTC Columbia, just one of many who have made the step up, while Karsten Kroon, Tom Boonen and Johan Van Summeren are among others who have finished highly in recent years and are now ProTour stars.
This is the 25th edition of the race, for Under 23 riders, using much of the same route as the professional race held one week later, taking in climbs such as the Cote du Rosier, Cote de La Redoute and the Cote Saint-Nicolas among the eight classified for the King of the Mountains competition, but the organisers, the Royal Cyclists Pesant Club Liegeois, who have been instrumental in the long history of the races professional counterpart, will have found many other climbs en route to test the riders, as is the nature of the region.
The five man squad of Doug Dewey, James Hawkins, Llewellyn Kinch, Sam Redding and Dave Sinclair have been preparing for the event since returning from a training camp in December, and already this season they have taken some creditable results in the build up to the race, with Llewellyn Kinch narrowly missing out on victory at the Evesham Vale Road Race just a week after a strong performance in the Roy Thame Cup.
Team boss Dan Smith does not underestimate the challenge facing the riders, but said “Over the past two years we have looked to give the riders some opportunities, but we were very surprised to get an invitation to ride the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Espoirs. It’s a huge task but I know the riders will give their all as these kind of chances to compete at this level rarely come round.”
