The squad consists of Romy Kasper, Anna Henderson, Aafke Soet and Karlijn Swinkels. They will start in Dwars door het Hageland on Saturday. This race, also called the Strade Bianche of the Hageland, consists of no less than twelve gravel strips that succeed each other continuously. The finish is at the Citadel of Diest, which is climbed three times.

On Sunday the women’s team makes its appearance in Dwars door de Westhoek. After a hilly start the course flattens out and ends with three local laps in Boezinge.

“In terms of character, they are two very different races”, race coach Marco Postma says. “In the Hageland there are a lot of gravel strips and narrow roads, which means we have to be alert all the time and make sure we are in front. After the expected elimination race, the final climb towards the Citadel of Diest is a final that suits Anna well. In the Westhoek it will come down to the sprinters. With this selection we have shown in Thüringen that we can compete well. We were very close to the podium a few times. The girls all recovered well last week so I think we can definitely expect something.”