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Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling’s three-time Track World Champion Kirsten Wild will make her road debut in the black and orange jersey in this Sunday’s Ronde van Drenthe, a race where she has twice finished second. The 35-year-old Dutchwoman took rainbow jerseys in the Scratch Race, the Omnium and the Points Race in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, last week and will now look to apply some of her incredible track form to the road. 
“I didn’t think too much about it. My target was really last weekend [at the Track World Championships],” Wild said. “I hope for some form and I will be able to survive in Drenthe. “The team showed already a really strong performance in Strade Bianche, so we will have good form, so I hope we have a good race as a team,” Wild added. “I think we have some opportunities because the girls showed that they are really strong already.” Having spent much of her offseason preparing for Apeldoorn, however, Wild has no idea how she will fare in what can be one of the toughest one-day road races in the women’s calendar. “So maybe I’m a good helper, I don’t know, we have to see I think,” she added. While the Ronde van Drenthe’s main obstacles consist of the region’s own style of cobbles and the famous landscaped landfill site of the VAM-berg, the race can be shaped by many other conditions, particularly the typical early spring weather of the eastern Netherlands. “If it’s cold, Drenthe is a really hard race, and windy conditions makes it really difficult,” Wild said. “And it’s long race, that’s the most difficult part I think. It’s almost 150km, or more, and that will be the hardest point. I feel in really good shape, but it’s different to do a track race to a five hour, cold conditions race. I think I have to see. I don’t know. No expectations. Only hope!” Although Wild has spent time with her new teammates in training camps, her concentration on the track means that this will be the first time she will line up at the start of a race with them. “I’m really looking forward to racing with the girls,” Wild smiled. "I’ve had so many nice messages from them this weekend. When I see the pictures of the Italian races it looks really cool. I’m really happy to be part of it and it finally starts. “Sometimes you think ‘I’m really looking forward to the races, and to be with the new team,’ and finally it will start!” 
Wild will be joined on the start line by fellow Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling debutant Lisa Brennauer, who also rode in Apeldoorn last week. The 30-year-old German comes to the race with the confidence gained from breaking national records in both the Individual and Team Pursuit. Their fellow track rider, former Scratch Race World Champion Rachele Barbieri will make her European debut in the team colours after impressing in Australia in January. Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling’s Scandinavians, Sweden’s Emilia Fahlin and Denmark’s Julie Leth will provide the same powerful support to the team that they did for Elisa Longo Borghini in last week’s Strade Bianche, while former two-time junior World Champion Lucy Garner will provide an additional sprint option in the race. 
Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling team for the Ronde van Drenthe |
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