My First Belgium UCI Races - Emma Smith - bmwcycling
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01 Jul My First Belgium UCI Races – Emma Smith

Posted at 05:55h in Race Reports, Racing, Rider Blogs by

Emma has been one of our biggest improvers so far on our #EuropeanCampaign, always looking for ways to do better and working to help her team mates. Very helpful and positive off the bike as well Emma has been a great asset to the team. Here how she found her first two races in Belgium.

“Dwars Door de Westhoek UCI 1.1 was an awesome but hectic race with 175 starters, with just over half the field finishing the race! By far the biggest bunch I have ever raced in. I was stoked to finish in the front peloton and gain some more confidence riding in a big bunch. After getting knocked down a couple of times I was very determined to chase back on. What I have learnt from racing in a big bunch is positioning is key especially with such a turny and narrow course. The Belgium cobbles mixed things up and made the race so much more fun and exciting!”

“Next UCI race up for me was the Spar Flanders Diamond Tour UCI 1.1 the following weekend on the 16th. Being a flat course this was a hard and fast paced race with another big field of 170 riders. The bunch felt a lot calmer today and not so stopy/starty which made a smoother race. I was happy to have good positioning today, really getting amongst the race and was a lot more confident riding further up the bunch. A big part of the race for me was going back to feed from the car which was a good opportunity for me to try and help the team out and a first time experience over here! Unfortunately I had a bit of an incident with the Curb in a pile up 700m from the finish which resulted in me walking my bike over the line, but that’s just part of racing. “

Emma has continued her growth with kermesse and crits in the Netherlands and Belgium since these UCI races and will be a starter for the team in our final tour – Tour de Feminin UCI 2.1 in the Czech Republic starting next week.

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