This Sunday Team Hitec Products lined up for Gent-Wevelgem (WWT) with goal of another top ten result. The race of 114km included two times the cobbled climbs Kemmelberg & Monteberg and once the Baneberg. Although the weather was nice, the winds were strong and already early in the race the peloton split in two because of it.
At 50km the first climb came and over the top a selection of 25 riders got clear, none of our Hitec girls. Emilie was the closest over Les videre →
Saturday we lined up for the second race of the Women’s Worldtour (WWT). The riders were met by good weather, the wind was present but not strong, the roads were Dutch, the VAM-berg and cobbles great fun, but tough! With such a strong peloton it would be all about positioning for the crucial moments. We hoped to get
someone in a breakaway before the long cobles. Janicke tested the Les videre →
Team Hitec Products raced the first race in the UCI Women’s World Tour race, Strade Bianche in Sienna, Tuscany. The race offered a tough course and challenging weather for the 121km route through Toscana including 23km of white gravel roads and over 1800m of elevation with open terrain. Les videre →
On Saturday Lauren Kitchen and Julie Leth competed at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race as guest riders for the composite team “Hogs Breath Cafe Tineli”. The race was won by the Australian Champion Amanda Spratt (Orica AIS) who attacked in a breakaway of five. Behind Dani King (Wiggle High5) chased with last year winner and Spratt’s teammate Rachel Neylan on her wheel. Neylan sprinted to second ahead of King. The rest of the breakaway got caught by a group of five were also Lauren where sitting. Lauren was able to finish to a strong 5th place with Julie in the group behind on a good 16th place. This was the duos last race in Australia before heading to Qatar where they will be joined by teammates Kirsten Wild, Cecilie Gotaas Johnsen, Emilie Moberg & Charlotte Becker.
The Australian national championships week is underway and our Lauren Kitchen started the week with a nice bronze medal in the criterium. She got into the nine rider breakaway that stayed together to the line where she sprinted to the bronze medal behind Sophie Mackay and Lizzie Williams. The race was Laurens first race since the world championships in September and reassures Lauren to be on track with training and form ahead of Sundays road race.
The Road Race in Richmond became a nailbiting experience, when Lauren Kitchen (Australia) was away with Scandolara (Italy) in the final kilometers of the race. Unfortunately the duo was catched in the last hill and Elisabeth Arimitstead (England) won from a small group in the end.
We had 7 girls from the team to start, Emilie, Ingrid, Cecilie, Miriam, Charlotte, Tatiana and Lauren.
Full Results here
Another perfect display of teamwork resulted in a huge win for Lauren Kitchen, from a break of 6 riders. Team mate Kirsten Wild won the peloton sprint for 7th. Underway in the race, the Hitec Products team controlled every move and chased down any unwanted breaks. Kitchen also won the implemented sprint contest on equal points with team mate Charlotte Becker. The victory puts Team Hitec Products as the most winning team in the world at the moment.
Team: Tone Hatteland Lima, Kirsten Wild, Lauren Kitchen, Julie Leth, Shana van Glabeke, Charlotte Becker Results
Stagewin for Lauren and 2d in the GC is fully approved result. Cecilie got 10th in the GC to complete our Thailand perfromance. The team functioned perfectly, well raced by all, including Shana on her first intercontinental trip and Tone with broken hand.
Results: http://www.cqranking.com/women/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=10365
Team: Tone, Shana, Lauren, Miriam, Cecilie
Sunday the team did their 3d race in Belgium for a week. Tatiana and Lauren broke away with 9 other riders and finished 7 and 10, winner of the day was Belgian Champion Jolien Dhoore. Emilie ended on 19th place.
Team: Emilie, Tatiana, Tone, Vita, Lauren, Shana
Full results
Continuing her great form from the Oceania Championships, Lauren surprised herself and everybody in this event. Instead of just contesting the sprints in the first flat stages, which brought her another podium, she also finished 2nd on the queen mountain stage on the Saturday. The race started with a TTT where Australia finished 18 secs behind USA, which put the Americans in the driving seat for the GC until the finish. Tayler Wiles (USA) won the event.
Full results here.