Katie Hall to 'go for it' at Trofeo Alfredo Binda

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Katie Hall was one of Boels Dolmans' biggest new signings for the 2019 season and the American plans to live up to those expectations at Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio on Sunday.

"I do have ambitions for this race – to go for it, leave it all out on the road, and see how the chips fall," Hall told Cyclingnews.

The event is the third round of the Women's WorldTour, after Strade Bianche and Ronde van Drenthe, but Hall has only competed at the Semtana Ciclista Valenciana in February. Competing at Trofeo Alfredo Binda will mark her first race with the powerful Dutch team on the Women’s WorldTour.

Hall has spent much of her career so far focused on American stage racing, and was a member of the UnitedHealthcare team for the five previous seasons. Last year, she won the Tour of California Women's Race. She has competed internationally, too, winning Tour de San Luis and a stage the Internationale Thüringen Rundfahrt and the mountain classification at the Aviva Women's Tour, but she has only raced Trofeo Alfredo Binda once.

"I raced this race in 2016," she said. "I like the course and I am excited to race here with the strength and experience I have now."

The women will race a hilly 131km route that starts in Taino and finishes with challenging circuits in Cittiglio. The finish loop includes a 3.1km climb to Orino before descending back into Cittiglio, and over one small rise to the finish line.

The race is unpredictable and in the past has been won by solo breakaways or in bunch sprints. Hall believes that the race is suited to the pure climbers and the puncheurs in the peloton.

Last year, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) attacked on the final climb with six kilometres to go and took a solo win. The year before that, however, Coryn Rivera (Sunweb) won a sprint from a group of 40 riders that made it to the finish line together.

"I think it can go either way – to the climbers or the climbing sprinter," she said. "I think it depends on how hard the climbers commit to getting away and staying away to the finish."

After the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, Hall will turn her attention to the Ardennes Classics – Amstel Gold, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and then the Volta Limburg Classic.

In Italy, Hall will be racing with Chantal Blaak, Eva Buurman, Jip van den Bos, Karol-Ann Canuel and Skylar Schneider. Asked about her first impressions and experiences with Boels Dolmans, Hall said, "It was a really positive experience - both eye-opening and inspiring. I learned a lot from their professionalism and commitment to the team plan."