Leah Kirchmann on Omloop het Nieuwsblad and Omloop van het Hageland

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[/column][column col=”1/2″ last=”true”]After riding in the desert in the Ladies Tour of Qatar, Leah Kirchmann got her season in Europe of to a strong start this past weekend. The Winnipegger finished fourth at Omloop het Nieuwsblad and second at Omloop van het Hageland. Recently, Kirchmann discussed the past weekend, her new team and the season ahead.[/column]

Tell me about the Team Liv-Plantur’s plan going into this past weekend of racing.

Our team plan for both Nieuwsblad and Hageland was to have Floortje [Mackaij] and me as protected riders, while my other teammates focused on positioning and racing aggressively at certain moments.

You raced in Belgium before, but how did you feel going into these races?

I was nervous heading into the weekend of racing, especially for Nieuwsblad. I didn’t have a chance to preview any of the course beforehand, and there are a lot of key climbs and cobble sections in the race. I am very thankful for Google maps! I felt more comfortable racing Hageland because I’ve spent a lot of time training in the area since the Team Canada house is based in Tielt-Winge where the race takes place.

Did your experience from previous Euro races play a role this past weekend?

Previous experience definitely helped a lot this past weekend. I feel more comfortable and confident in the Euro peloton with every race I take part in over here. It is a steep learning curve to come over here from the North American scene. Looking back on my first trip to Europe, I have made a lot of progress.

What went well within this past weekend’s races? What didn’t go so well?

With Het Nieuwsblad, I had great positioning going into almost all of the key sections thanks to my teammates. I felt really strong on the climbs and made the right selections at the front. Luckily, I avoided all the crashes and didn’t have any mechanicals. In Hageland, I messed up positioning a few times, but nothing major. The bunch sprint was quite messy at the end and I thought my chances were over at a moment. I was happy to successfully navigate the chaos to finish with a podium result.

I think one of the hardest things with racing the Classics is making the right clothing choices! I was overheating on Saturday and then completely frozen on Sunday. We talk about our clothing choices as a team almost as much as the race plan itself.

How have things been going with your new team?

Things are going really well with the team so far. Everything is very professional and organized, and I have great support from the staff and riders.

What’s next for you in the short term? And in the long term?

I’ll be racing Strade Bianche this weekend, followed by Ronde van Drenthe, Drentse Acht van Westerveld, Gent-Wevelgem, Tour of Flanders and La Flèche Wallonne. Looking to later in the season, I will continue to focus on the Women’s Tour races, with the Olympics and world championships as major goals.