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After working as a soigneur for seven years — 5 of these with the Ladies’s WorldTour group Lidl-Trek — Geerike Schreurs was prepared for a change. She wasn’t positive what that might appear to be, however she deliberate to take as much as a 12 months to seek out out. Then, she talked about gravel racing to her good friend Anna van der Breggen, and instantly she had a brand new course.
Van der Breggen, the multi-time world champion and Olympian turned director sportif of SD Worx-ProTime, was visiting Schreurs in Girona final fall when Schreurs talked about gravel. She had performed a number of races in 2023, profitable the UCI Gravel World Series race in Sweden and ending on the rostrum on the Gravel Earth Closing in Barcelona.
![Geerike Schreurs](https://velo-cdn.outsideonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Photo-17-02-2024-16-03-41-31-720x576.jpg?width=720)
Based on Schreurs, who goes by “Gee,” she informed Van der Breggen she’d love to do extra gravel racing. Van der Breggen knew that Specialised, her group’s bike sponsor, was searching for a feminine gravel racer based mostly in Europe. She began the cascade of introductions, and earlier than the top of the 12 months, Schreurs had a contract to race gravel for SD Worx-ProTime.
Though Schreurs might be lining up at gravel races world wide within the ubiquitous SD Worx pink and purple (generally with Van der Breggen in tow!), she’s basically a privateer racing for Specialised with some group perks — a bit of a la Lachlan Morton with EF. This winter, she attended three coaching camps with the Netherlands-based squad and has entry to among the group’s assets. However, she gained’t be racing on the highway this season, neither is {that a} future objective.
Schreurs’ race targets all begin with the letter ‘g.’
Meet Gee
Schreurs’ backstory to bike racing is pretty frequent amongst girls in that she dabbled in racing for a number of years whereas pursuing a college diploma, then pivoted to full-time work. It was really Van der Breggen who received her into racing within the Netherlands round 2010. She even spent two years on a UCI continental group based mostly in Belgium earlier than hanging up the hoops.
Regardless of that dalliance on the highway, “let’s simply say I’m extra skilled now than I ever was then,” Schreurs mentioned.
After turning into an expert soigneur — her diploma is in sports activities science — Schreurs personal health took a backseat to the wants of her riders; being a soigneur is just not conducive to a number of “me” time.
Whereas she labored at Lidl-Trek, Schreurs stayed match by squeezing in early morning runs with group director Ina Teutenberg. Throughout sure instances of the 12 months, like Classics season, she and Teutenberg would have a bit of time to experience, typically reconning the route. However that was the extent of her health regime.
![Geerike Schreurs](https://velo-cdn.outsideonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Photo-16-02-2024-17-54-23-1-720x900.jpg?width=720)
Schreurs began to coach in earnest final fall and on the Santa Vall race in Girona a number of weeks in the past, she was grateful she had.
“The extent, oh it’s so excessive,” she mentioned. “I had a strong coaching interval of three months and I hadn’t performed as a lot depth up to now 12 years. So that you’re like, ‘oh I’m actually ready, however already the extent is so excessive.’”
Schreurs has a combined calendar of American and European gravel racing on faucet for 2024, and she or he doesn’t count on the extent to go down in any respect as she travels the globe chasing races. She’ll start her US season at BWR Arizona this weekend after which zip all the way down to Texas for the inaugural Valley of Tears. She’s excited to race towards among the US’ high expertise, though she admits she doesn’t know a ton concerning the riders but, or the scene usually.
“I watched the Life Time collection, the second episode about Unbound,” she mentioned, “that was very nice to look at. I lately listened to some podcasts, one was with Carolin Schiff, one with Sofia [Gomez Villafañe]. So I’m getting a bit of little bit of an thought however earlier than that I didn’t know a lot. I knew Unbound was the race.”
![Geerike Schreurs](https://velo-cdn.outsideonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Photo-17-02-2024-16-03-41-37-1-720x576.jpg?width=720)
Schreurs will return to Europe after Valley of Tear to renew her construct towards the Traka, the race that’s being dubbed ‘the Unbound of Europe.’ After the Traka, she’ll construct towards, properly, the Unbound. She’ll keep within the US for the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder, which is a part of the Gravel Earth Sequence this 12 months.
She doesn’t have it mapped out past that, though “after all I wish to do world champs in Belgium,” she mentioned.
Thus far, not having issues mapped out has labored properly.
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