Image: ©Tino Pohlmann
CANYON//SRAM Racing will line up in the first women's UCI stage race for 2017 on Saturday 14 January at the Santos Women's Tour in Adelaide, Australia. For the first time Australian rider and local Tiffany Cromwell will have a full roster of teammates in her home town race. Cromwell is joined by four-time Belarusian national road champion Alena Amialiusik, former individual time trial world champion Lisa Brennauer, Italian sprinter Barbara Guarischi, German road race champion Mieke Kröger and young American rider Alexis Ryan.
The four day stage race starts with an undulating stage from picturesque Hahndorf to Meadows. The 106km stage with an 11% steep Paris Creek QOM just four kilometres before the finish is set to clearly outline the GC contenders for the tour. Stage two, a circuit style race around the city centre in front of huge crowds is almost certain to finish in a bunch sprint. The remaining two stages, an undulating road stage in Tanunda and the Victoria Park criterium will see the overall finalised in what is predicted to be a tight battle with minimal time bonuses available throughout the tour.
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Cromwell, who just finished ninth in the Australian national road race on Sunday 9 January, said she is looking forward to the Santos Women's Tour. "There's such a buzz around the city for these two weeks and it creates an incredible atmosphere to be part of. We'll see that the tour is going to be a lot different compared to Australian nationals and I'm happy that there's another five CANYON//SRAM teammates out on the road with me."
"It's exciting to see a number of international teams who have come over to support the race and with the greater depth in the field to previous years, despite it still being very early in the season, I think we're going to see a dynamic and aggressive race that hopefully won't be dominated by just one team," said Cromwell.
CANYON//SRAM Racing have also praised the efforts of the tour organisers encouraging international teams to support the event. "It's great to see that the women's tour here is growing each year with UCI status, increased media coverage and a field that is becoming more and more international. We believe supporting an event like this, supporting the tour organisers, and ourselves working on increasing the exposure on a global level is important to continue to grow the sport of women's cycling. We're proud our team is here," said director sportif Beth Duryea.
"It's an exciting time of the year for road cycling in Australia. All of the fans are looking to Australia and since many of our team partners have a strong brand presence here, we can't think of a better way to really launch the racing season. We have high ambitions on the stages and we will see what this brings for the overall classification," Beth Duryea explained.
Racing action starts on Saturday 14 January at 11:00 local Adelaide time.
Whilst in Adelaide the team will be part of a number of activities outside of the race including autograph signing session at the Canyon booth in the village expo on Saturday 14, a Zwift virtual ride on Wednesday 18, a team Q & A panel evening at the Rapha Pop Up in Cannon Street on Thursday 19, and a Rapha women's ride on Friday 20.
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