The Emakumeen Nafarroako Klasikoa (23 July), Klasikoa Navarra (24 July) and Durango-Durango (26 July) are the next official races for CCC-Liv as a team. Sports director Jeroen Blijlevens and team manager Eric van den Boom look ahead to the restart of the cycling season.

Happy it finally starts again?
Sports director Jeroen Blijlevens: “Just like everyone else, we have gone through a challenging and uncertain period. In any case, when the updated calendar was presented, we were able to make careful schedules and set goals, which is important for top athletes. It is nice that there is now a definitive view on racing. A very busy programme awaits us, starting with beautiful races in Spain where we prepare for the first big WorldTour races in August. After that run-up, stage races begin in September. The highlights of the classic spring season are scheduled for October.”

Was it difficult to make selections for the races?
Blijlevens: “At CCC-Liv, we have the luxury of having a large, high-quality group. Riders are well matched, making it challenging to complete our programme. We have determined in advance that we want to offer everyone as many opportunities as possible in the remaining races. We have also stated that we want to show our fighting spirit in each race where we start. We have had to make choices that are sometimes not ideal for everyone. But yes, you simply cannot enter a favourite classic or stage race with ten strong riders. Fortunately, everyone within the team understands the situation and the difficulties we faced.”

What will be the main goals?
Blijlevens: “Although the season is short and compact, our ambitions are no less. We strive to be visible and perform well in each race. Everywhere we start, we want to be of significance. For some races, it is difficult to already express a very concrete expectation. Take the Giro Rosa, for example: Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and Marianne Vos are traditionally strong there, but we do not yet know the exact course. And a race like Paris-Roubaix is very specific and new for our peloton. That also remains to be seen. We will at least try to get the most out of it with the experience of performance manager Lars Boom.”

How strong are the riders at the moment?
Blijlevens: “That is the big question that every team has at the moment. It is very difficult to indicate how the proportions in the peloton will be. Who got through the corona time well and who did not or less well? Some riders need races to get into the right rhythm, others are anyway in shape. Our performance manager has regularly updated us on the progress behind the scenes. Without mentioning specific names: I know that some riders achieve really fantastic training values. And of course, we have a lot of experience in our ranks. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and Marianne Vos will really be ready, they do not need extra motivation.”

How do the riders work towards the restart?
Team manager Eric van den Boom: “Top athletes always set goals. In March, all those goals disappeared in one swoop. As a team we tried to absorb it as well as possible, including weekly online team meetings in order to keep in touch with each other and to keep morale as good as possible. It was very pleasant to talk about restarting the season. We briefly considered preparing together as a team, also with a view to health and safety but we also noticed that riders value their personal season preparation. For example, Valerie Demey and Agnieszka Skalniak now run national races in their own country. And Soraya Paladin and Marianne Vos are on altitude training. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio sleeps at home in an altitude tent with a reduced oxygen content. While they are in close contact with the staff, we leave riders free in their approach. We have been monitoring their health every day since March.”

Is there already concrete news in terms of sponsorship?
Van den Boom: “The business community has been hit hard all over the place. The corona virus has unfortunately also impacted our main sponsor CCC. Every cycling fan may have heard this. We have often been asked, quite logically, what our sponsorship situation will look like next year. We want nothing more than to be concrete, but we cannot do it at the moment. We are looking into various scenarios and see that developments are progressing in the right direction. The starting point for all these scenarios is that we can maintain our high level of ambition in the coming years.”

• View our updated race calendar