MADRID, 20 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Movistar Women’s Team announced this Thursday the signing of the Dutch cyclist Mareille Meijering, who has signed a contract with the Spanish team from May 1 until the end of 2024.
Meijering, 28, will become the sixteenth runner on Sebastián Unzué’s team, with whom he is already training these days together with his new teammates, taking advantage of the Ardennes classics.
As indicated by the Movistar Team, this is the first season in which the Utrecht cyclist is dedicating herself professionally to cycling, since she previously did so at an amateur level to combine it with her work as a teacher. This 20023 has been ‘Top 10’ on the UAE Tour and in Valencia.
“These last few months have been a real roller coaster. If they told me half a year ago that I was going to reach a team like this, I wouldn’t have believed it. Last year it was already an adventure for me to compete in WorldTour races at the same time as I worked as a teacher, and in this I have been able to focus much more on training, running and, above all, resting and not having to worry about a full-time job like the one I had. It is something that has already been noticed a lot in these months , and I’m looking forward to seeing how far I’ll go now that I’m 100 percent focused on cycling,” said the Dutch cyclist.
Meijering recalled that he still does not have “too much experience” in World Tour races and that “there is still a lot to learn.” “It’s what I want to take advantage of the remainder of this year and next season with the team; better understand this sport together with the best, work with these runners and this ‘staff’, develop and improve both physically as in the tactical to reach the top in the future. I think that the atmosphere that there is in this team are the suitable ones to progress in it”, admitted.
For his part, sports director Sebastián Unzué believes that although Meijering’s leap into professionalism was late, “he has been racing in the Netherlands all his life, as they say, and has the necessary skills and experience”. “Although she has yet to know almost all the big races, her progression over the past year and a half focused on the bike gives us high hopes that she will be a very good racer,” he added.
“From the beginning, the objective has to be to learn and become a great support for our leaders. She defends herself very well on all terrains, she is skilful and knows how to move, especially in races like the classics, where it is so difficult to manage. We want to give her all means and provide it with the best possible environment for it to continue to grow”, he added.
Unzué does not know “how far the Dutch will go”, whom she sees with “a very important margin”. “She raises the average for this team and has clear ideas, in a great team, she will go far. She will have to sacrifice herself with this challenge, but she is ready for it and is super motivated to give everything from day one,” she concluded.