This week, four riders of the structure of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty will represent their country at the U23 World Championships in Glasgow - Scotland. On Wednesday 9th of August, Roel van Sintmaartensdijk (The Netherlands) will participate in the individual time trial, before racing for the rainbow jersey in the road race with Aklilu Arefayne (Eritrea), Francesco Busatto (Italy) and Madis Mihkels (Estonia) on Saturday 12th of August.
Madis Mihkels (20), bronze medal winner in the junior category in Leuven, finished fourth in his first U23 world championships in Wollongong in September. His two future teammates in the World Team, Busatto (20) and van Sintmaartensdijk (22) make their debut at a world championship. For Arefayne (19), member of Circus-ReUz-Technord and vice African champion U23, it is his first U23 world championship after his partipation in the junior category in in Australia last year.
This Wednesday, the time trial will take place in Stirling, a city northeast of Glasgow, between the gardens King’s and Queen’s Knot and the Castle of Stirling. The parcours of 36.2 kilometer offers both straight and curvy roads and contains several uphill sections in the final, with especially the last kilometer towards the castle with slopes up to 10%.
"It is an honour for me to represent The Netherlands for the first time in the most important race in the world. I'm proud to be present here, with the best athletes of my country in all categories. The result in the individual time trial this Wednesday will depend mainly on myself. My preparation was excellent, with an altitude camp with the team in Livigno followed by the Sazka Tour and two course recons earlier this week. I hope for a flawless time trial so I can finish saying that I got the most out of it. I'm convinced that, with good legs, I can achieve a nice result. For the road race on Saturday it is more difficult to estimate which role I can play. With Casper van Uden we have a fast rider in our team, but in such an open and challenging race, it remains to be seen who will be able to accompany the best until the very end."
