The hits keep coming for Vancouver’s Sidney Swierenga. The all-rounder showed she’s a force to be reckoned with at the three-day Vuelta a Extremadura Femenina. The Liv AlUla Jayco team delivered a legit masterclass in teamwork, taking the overall victory, stage wins, and podium finishes.
The race opened with a nasty time trial, run in showers and chilly conditions. Sure, the race was inSpain, but the weather can be all over the place in Europe in March.
Rainy TT
“The TT was super wet, pouring rain and quite cold, so that wasn’t ideal. But you know, whatever happens, happens. So it was okay,” Swierenga said. “I was pretty happy with my TT, it wasn’t my best. I made a couple mistakes, but it was the first TT of the season, and I haven’t spent a lot of time in them, so I was pretty happy with that.”
Her teammate, Australian champion Mackenzie Coupland, impressed with a fourth-place GC position going into the next stages, while Swierenga and another teammate were both in the top 20. Swierenga is a talented chrono specialist, taking a top-10 at the worlds in 2025.
Stage 2 was more of a sprint day. “It was super flat, nothing really happened,” Swierenga said . A lone rider attempted a breakaway, but the team knew it wouldn’t last. In the end, Aaron delivered a strong sprint to finish sixth.
The last stage: Showtime
The final stage, a 139km ride to Jaraiz de la Vera, was full of strategic attacks. Swierenga described her role: “On the second-last climb, I was supposed to attack, and I tried, but I couldn’t really get a gap. I paced most of the climb because that’s what I was told to do.” After a challenging descent and a regrouping, her teammates made decisive moves. “My other teammate attacked and paced it super hard up the climb. I wasn’t able to hang on all the way, so I sat in the second group and then won the sprint from there to come fifth, which was super cool.”
The strategy paid off: Coupland took the stage win and overall GC, while teammate Talia Appleton finished third overall. “It was amazing because my teammate won, and my other teammate came third. We stuck to the plan, and it worked. So yeah, it was great,” Swierenga said.
The performance capped off a strong weekend for Swierenga, who finished 18th in the opening TT, stayed safely in the bunch on Stage 2, and rocketed up the GC on the tough final day. She also finished fourth in the young rider’s classification.
Their directeur sportif, Przemyslaw…
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