In her first year racing with the pros, Sidney Swierenga is already showing some excellent form. At the Vuelta a Extremadura Femenina, she and her Liv AlUla Jayco team rode exceptionally well, taking the overall, stage wins and stop finishes.<\/p>\n
Australian champ Mackenzie Coupland powered to a stage victory as well as taking the overall title at the three-day race in Spain. Teammate Talia Appleton finished third overall.
Coupland out kicked Lauren Dickson after the pair broke away from the peloton late on the final stage, taking the stage dub along with the youth, points and GC.<\/p>\n
On the 139km finale to Jaraiz de la Vera, a small breakaway formed with Coupland, Appleton and Sidney Swierenga. The trio launched attacks that freed Coupland to chase the win, while Appleton sprinted to third, sealing her spot on the GC podium. Swierenga finished in the overall top five, capping a strong weekend.<\/p>\n
Strong start to the season<\/p>\n
In late February, the Vancouver native showed her early-season form at the Cl\u00e1sica de Almer\u00eda, spending 74km of the 118.8km in the break.<\/p>\n
At the Vuelta a Extremadura Femenina, she finished 18th in the opening TT, 33rd and safely in the bunch of Stage 2, then rocketed up the GC in the tough final stage.<\/p>\n
Her directeur sportif, Przemyslaw Kasper said the race was a success for the whole team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are super happy with the result as a team, everyone did solid and great work,\u201d he said. \u201cSame for the staff who had some really long days and a lot of driving so it was really a team effort, lots of top teamwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are three Canadians on the Aussie team. Nadia Gontova<\/a> rides on the WorldTour outfit, with Swierenga and Annabelle Thomas on the Conti team.<\/p>\n Gontova finished 17th overall, with Mathilde Huot (Team Abadie Magnan) coming in 33rd. Movistar\u2019s Olivia Baril was 37th, Lidl-Trek\u2019s Ava Holmgren was 38th, and Jazmine Lavergne (Team Abadie Magnan) was 57th.<\/p>\n