We line up for consecutive one day races in France this weekend as we take part in tomorrow’s Classique Morbihan and Saturday’s GP de Plumelec. The roster for the races around Plumelec, in the Brittany region will be Alena Amialiusik, Lisa Brennauer, Elena Cecchini, Barbara Guarischi and Leah Thorvilson.

Tomorrow’s UCI 1.1 Classique Morbihan is on a 113km undulating course, compared to the shorter 108km GP de Plumelec on Saturday. Both races finish with laps of a 7.7km hilly local circuit, where a 10% pinch in the final kilometre adds to expectations that a small group will battle for the win.

After more than one month off racing, Italian road champion Elena Cecchini is looking forward to racing again. “I needed a break after a busy spring. I’ve been training in altitude the last three weeks but my load has been refreshing and I feel good for this next period of racing. Coming back to races will help me get the competitive edge back. I’m very happy to be back racing.

“I’ve never raced these two French races before, but I know the course is similar to the European championships last year and though I didn’t take part, I know it will be tough. I’m there and ready to help my teammates take the win.”

American rider Leah Thorvilson also took a break after experiencing her first ever spring races in Europe. Thorvilson has been preparing for the weekend’s races with kermesse racing in Netherlands and Belgium last week.

“Going into this weekend I really want to be able to race as a teammate rather than a member of the team racing alone. I’ll be asking my teammates who have ridden this course before for advice on the technical parts of the course that can’t be seen in a race guide,” said Thorvilson.

“I’ll put my hand up for a role and want my teammates to have faith in me to do it. I think the repetitive climbs on Friday and Saturday will allow me to show my strength and I aim to be in a position to help drive one of my teammates to the top of the podium.”

Here’s how to follow the races:

Classique Morbihan – Friday 26 May from 14:15 (CEST) with #ClassiqueMorbihan
GP de Plumelec – Saturday 27 May from 09:00 (CEST) with #GPPlumelec

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