Karol-Ann Canuel (Boels Dolmans) on the attack(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Chantal Blaak celebrates winning the GC with teammate, Karol-Ann Canuel at the 119 km Stage 6 of the Boels Ladies Tour 2016(Image credit: Sean Robinson/Velofocus)
Boels Dolmans announced the next pair of riders to extend contracts with the team on Thursday, adding Karol-Ann Canuel and Skylar Schneider to the growing list of riders who have signed contracts with the team through 2020.
"I'm super-excited about staying with Boels-Dolmans for two more years," Canuel said. "I just really like this team and I feel at home here. I think we have the best sponsors and I just love racing with this group of girls. I feel it was the right decision for me.
"I think winning the team time trial in Sweden is my greatest memory of this year," Canuel said. "The conditions out there were really hard, and I think we rode really well together. It was just so nice to be on the top step of the podium with all the team. Team time trial wins are always the best, in my opinion."
American rider Schneider made her debut with the team this season, signing a last-minute contract after two spots opened up on the team when riders Kasia Pawlowska and Nikki Brammeier left the programme.
This year, Schneider said her main goal was to learn, and she joined the team during the Classics season before returning to the US to race with her national team at the Amgen Women's Race in California. She travelled back to Europe to race with Boels Dolmans at the Giro Rosa where teammate Megan Guarnier placed fifth overall, and most recently raced at the Ladies Tour of Norway.
"I loved being part of the Ardennes Week this year. Although I only raced Flèche Wallone, I spent nearly the whole week with the team, from the Amstel Gold course recon until the day before Liège-Bastogne-Liège," said Schneider, who raced La Flèche Wallonne, but not the other two events.
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"It was so special to watch the team dominate the three most prestigious races of the spring, and it left me extremely inspired," she continued. "I'm so pleased to be part of this team, and can honestly say that the team has exceeded all of my expectations. The staff and riders are all genuinely good people that come together and support each other.
"My one goal this year was to learn as much as possible and gain experience by being the best teammate I possibly could. I feel that this was the right approach to this season as I have grown as a cyclist and a person, so in the coming years I will use these experiences and hopefully turn them into some victories."
Boels Dolmans have nine riders under contract for 2019. Extensions that have already been announced include world champion Chantal Blaak and Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen, Amalie Dideriksen, Christine Majerus and Amy Pieters. New signings include Katie Hall and Eva Buurman.
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