Ingvild Gåskjenn will lead Liv AlUla Jayco in her debut at the one-day Classic Lorient Agglomération-Ceratizit in France this Saturday, 24th August.
The Norwegian rider has enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2024, scoring her first WorldTour podium at the Amstel Gold Race in the spring. In May, she scored a series of impressive top-10 finishes at La Vuelta Femenina and is coming into the race fresh following a short break after representing her country at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Gåskjenn will be backed by a strong team with the in-form Silke Smulders providing support as well as being another card to play for the squad. Smulders arrives in the race off the back of a solid Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift last week, as does fellow Dutch rider Quinty Ton.
Ruby Roseman-Gannon will be back in action in the French race after leaving the Tour de France Femmes early due to an injury preventing her from racing effectively. The Australian champion has been recovering since pulling out ahead of stage 7 and the Classic Lorient Agglomération will be her return to competition.
Rounding out the squad will be Urška Žigart, who enjoyed a strong performance at the Giro d’Italia Women earlier in the summer. The double Slovenian champion will be a key support rider for Gåskjenn over the hilly course.
Starting out in Plouay, the race route takes on a rolling tour of the Breton countryside before heading back to its point of origin to complete two explosive laps of a local circuit. It’s a race that can end with a solo victor or a bunch sprint and the team is ready for both eventualities.
Liv AlUla Jayco roster for the Classic Lorient Agglomération:
Ruby Roseman-Gannon
Ingvild Gåskjenn
Quinty Ton
Silke Smulders
Urška Žigart
Ingvild Gåskjenn:
“After the Olympic Games I had a few days off and I spent some time with my family. Now, I’m feeling ready to get back into racing, and I’m really looking forward to doing the Classic Lorient Agglomération for the first time and seeing what I can do. It looks like a nice route for me, and we have a strong team for it.”
Jess Allen (Sport Director):
“We three riders coming in from the Tour de France Femmes and then two who are coming in fresh. It’s quite a long race at 160 kilometres over really hard terrain. The climbs aren’t super long but it’s just one of those races that eats away at you and the longer you get into the race the harder it gets. We have a really strong team that can cover all bases on the climbs as well as a sprint finish. We’ll be looking to take opportunities and, with the team that we have, we can really go for a high podium result and that will be our goal for the race.”
Photo: Sprint Cycling
