After a full-3 months racing across Australia, from Perth to Davenport, and Moreton Bay to Warrnambool, the Meridian Bikebug team landed in Belgium in the last week of March.
With a calendar of more than 35 race days over 6 months in Europe it will be a big test for the whole team.
First off was the NXT Classic, a UCI 1.2 race in Netherlands held on narrow roads with a massive field. With a climb in the first 5km it quickly became obvious that his would be a rapidly attritional race. This turned to be the theme of the first month is about attritional classics racing. We were missing Ava, who was still in New Zealand recovering from the Tour of Tasmania wrist fracture.
The management team in Belgium is highly experienced. Christel and Davy made it easy to get into the rhythm of preparing packing and traveling to the race starts. Unlike in Australia, most races require road travel.
Our second races was Mouscron UCI 1.1, another level up from 1.2. It was a palpable change in quality as the leaders of this race pushed super hard to keep the race ‘on’. Working on preserving energy and maintaining position was the focus for the team. Not everyone finished this race, but everyone made personal progress.
Our biggest classic race for the year was Brabantse Pijl, a 1.Pro race, and by some accounts, one of the hardest of the professional Spring races. Of the 150 starters barely 50 finished, and all of our riders got the ‘green’ flag. It feels like unfinished business, so we’re determined to be back in 2027.
With a couple of kermesses also in April has the fully adjusted to Europe and ready to make some big gains over the next 4 months.
