By Shane Stokes
Megan Armitage has a glittering race programme ahead during her first few months with the EF Education-Cannondale team, with the majority of her first all WorldTour events. These will include her first-ever Grand Tour.
Armitage is travelling back from her winter training stint in Australia to attend another team training camp, and has told stickybottle that she is excited about what lies ahead this year.
“I’m working with Emma Trott who is the performance coach with EF,” she said. “It’s nice having a different stimulus and structure in training.
“I’m feeling good so I’m excited for this season to see what kind of rider I develop into. This year will be more of a discovery year for me so it’s exciting,” Armitage added as she looks ahead to a season that will include riding the women’s Vuelta a España.
Armitage will compete for the first time this year in the early season races in Mallorca. There are three events between January 20th and 22nd, namely the Trofeo Felanitx, the Trofeo Palma Femina and the Trofeo Binissalem-Andratx. It’s not clear if she will compete in all three.
“They will just be practice races to get to know the team and figure out what we need to work on,” she said.
She was given her initial racing calendar in December and so final confirmation will come in the upcoming camp. However for now a rich schedule is on the cards, with ten WorldTour events between early February and early May.
The first of those is the women’s UAE Tour in the United Arab Emirates, running between February 8th and 11th. Next up are nine prestigious one-day races, beginning with the Omloop het Nieuwsblad on February 24th and then Strade Bianche on March 2nd.
The Trofeo Alfredo Binda, Gent Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen and Ronde van Vlaanderen all follow in March, with April bringing the Amstel Gold Race, Fleche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
The Vuelta España Femenina then takes place between April 29th and May 5th, seven days in total. While it is a long way off the three weeks of the men’s Vuelta, it is still regarded as a grand tour in women’s cycling.
Provisional race calendar
- 8-11 Feb: UAE Tour
- Feb 24: Omloop het Nieuwsblad
- 2 Mar: Strade Blanche
- 17 Mar: Alfredo Binda
- 24 Mar: Ghent Wevelgem
- May 27: Straight through Flanders
- 31 Mar: Tour of Flanders
- 14 Apr: Amstel Gold Race
- 17 Apr: Fleche Wallonne
- 21 Apr: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- April 29 – May 5: Women’s Tour of Spain
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