CCC-Liv announced Wednesday that they have signed Aurela Nerlo and Marta Jaskulska from the Polish Cycling School. The team have applied for a WorldTeam licence and will be registered under Poland in 2020, offering the two young talents a chance to gain experience at the highest level or professional cycling.
Nerlo, 21, is the under-23 national time trial champion and she finished third in the elite women's road race. During the 2019 season, she won the youth classification and finished second overall at the Tour de Feminin.
"I am a young rider, I learn every day and I have yet to discover where my possibilities reach on the road bike. In my time with the juniors, I have always performed well in time trials. This year I specifically trained to further improve the time trial and also to improve in other disciplines. My strength is therefore in time trials, but also in stage races and hard races. I am ambitious and still see many opportunities for growth," Nerlo said.
Nerlo is looking forward to learning from more experienced riders on the CCC-Liv team such as Marianne Vos and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio. The 2020 roster will also include Evy Kuikpers, Sabrina Stultiens, Valerie Demey and Soraya Paladin.
"My transfer to CCC-Liv is like a dream come true," Nerlo said. "It gives me a great feeling when I think that I can be part of one of the best women's teams next season. At the same time it is a leap in the deep for me, because I have never raced at such a high level before. The preconditions to progress are in any case perfect; everything is organised very professionally and the vibe is great."
Jaskulska, 19, has some experience competing with the pros having raced the Healthy Ageing Tour and Gracia Orlova. She was sixth place in the elite women's road race at the national championships.
"I am very happy with the opportunity that is being offered to me now," Jaskulska said. "As a young girl I used to say that my goal was to ride in a professional team someday. Now the time has come and I want to take on the challenge of making it a success.
"I still have a long way to go and will have to work hard. But I can reassure cycling fans in Poland and beyond that I will do everything to improve. I also think having fun is important. If you enjoy and safeguard what you do, you will get better."
