Role Rider | Name Sarah Rijkes | |
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Born 2 April 1991 (age 33) ( 1991-04-02 ) | ||
Becoming Austrian Champion, Sarah Rijkes
Sarah Rijkes (born 2 April 1991) is an Austrian professional racing cyclist from Waidhofen an der Ybbs. She is an allrounder with a preference for hilly stage races and currently rides for the Lares–Waowdeals team.
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Career
Sarah Rijkes came to competitive cycling through her Dutch father. As her first Elite racing team she joined the Austrian ARBÖ Löffler Ladies Team from her hometown Waidhofen an der Ybbs, where her mother worked as a team official. Her first professional team was the Austrian outlet Squadra Scappatella, which she joined in 2013. Only a few months after the season started, Rijkes suffered a major setback as she crashed heavily at the Tour of Chongming Island world cup race in China and missed almost the entire season, not returning to racing before September. Despite her unlucky season, Rijkes managed to get her first professional contract abroad in 2014 when she joined the Lotto-Belisol Ladies team in Belgium, at this time one of the best women's teams in the world. During her time at Lotto, she also rode as a guest rider for several other teams. After two years, Rijkes stayed in Belgium, this time signing for Lares–Waowdeals in 2016.
Career achievements
Rijkes competed for Austria in the road races of the 2015 UCI World Championships in Richmond, where she did not finish, and the 2016 UCI World Championships in Doha, where she finished 63rd.
Personal life
Rijkes has a Dutch surname with her father being from the Netherlands. She is fluent in Dutch. Besides her career in professional cycling she is currently also studying biology.
