The Setmana Ciclista Valencia was a successful start to the season for the Cervélo Bigla Pro Cycling Team. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio finished second in the overall classification with Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig fourth.
Moolman-Pasio was second on the final stage behind winner Hannah Barnes (Canyon-SRAM) and won the mountains classification. The stage result means the team leaves the race with an overall podium position, a classification win and three-second places.
“For us, it was a good opening week of racing,” Team Manager, Thomas Campana said. “We have new riders which joined us for the first time in the training camp last week and now in racing and they fit wonderfully to the team. This race was an extension of the training camp so we got good miles under the belt under the warm conditions plus some success. This is a great start to the season and we’re looking forward to the next races.”
The team has enjoyed incredible success in the last years, particularly in 2017 where it won 6 national titles and World Tour races like Gent-Wevelgem and a stage in the Giro Rosa. It also won the bronze medal for the second year in a row in the team time trial championships.
“We’re not a team to win every race, we’re all about development. When you look at our budget, we’re a small team and we have a lot of young talented riders. Our mission is to develop those riders to world-class athletes. Other teams have different goals. With their big budgets they have the pressure to win every race, our mission is clear, to help athletes become professional,” Campana said.
“I’m really proud that we can compete against big teams until the last kilometre of a four-stage race like this. I want to help the girls become world-class athletes and races like this are great for their development.”
The next race the team will undertake is Strade Bianche on Saturday 3rd March.
