This time it was to be home for quite some time, 2.5 weeks! This is because I got sick in China and had to cancel races in Norway the weekend after. It was really fun to be home for a while to see family and friends! Friday, 3 June, it was time for a tour of races again, this time it was 10 days in Spain on the program. The journey began at Skavsta airport with a stopover in London and on Saturday morning to Valladolid, where Martin and Christopher were waiting with the team's vehicles. It had been a long journey for them.

Here is a brief summary of the races and days in Spain.

June 5 World Cup in Valladolid

This race we did last year too, so we knew the route, except for the last lap which we had to do 5 times, it was a new route in town. We had not had a chance to see the lap beforehand, which had been good since the hills came as a shock and no one in the team managed to get to the finish in the first group, although five out of six sat in the peloton when we came to the final laps.

June 6th birthday in Spain

Just like last year, I celebrated my birthday in Spain in Valladolid, but unlike last year there was now a rest day and we moved up to Durango where we would continue to compete the following day. So there was not much of a celebration. I did get a gift tho, from my faithful roommate MonicaJ Thanks for the picture!!

June 7 Durango - Durango UCI 1.2

Today the weather could not decide really, it was raining then it was sunny and hot then rain again and it went on like that ... It was a really fun lap of 20km that we did four times before we had two long climbs at the end, I dropped on the first long hill and ended up in a second group together with some other Swedes ...

June 9 to 12 Emakumeen Bira UCI 2.2 4 day stage race

Stage 1.

It was an afternoon stage and we were really on the go before. At the first intermediate sprint me and Bella worked hard to get Monica to the line, unfortunately without dividends when Monica and I went over the line 5th and 6th. After that we went straight up a hill, which took their toll on the three of us, we managed to sit in the peloton until the long hill with today's only hill sprint. I dropped from the bunch on the climb but could get back on the downhill, but then a first bunch had gone off without anyone of us. In the end we sat five from the team in a larger second bunch and chased hard to take us to the first but without success.

Stage 2

Today I had a much better feeling in the legs. It was very much up and down even tho the race profile did not show it . We learned this week that it was not always correct ... I was glad to finally sit in the first peloton which seemed to be until the finish. Then just before the final hill a girl crashed right in front of me and I had to klick out the pedals, stop, and then get going again… I caught up just in time for the last climb, but I was finished by then and I could not stay. I chased back on the downhill but that was only the second bunch. A little disappointed with the misfortune. Bella managed to get a 10th place and team management were mildly said, happier today than yesterday J

Stage 3a Hill Time Trail

A tough day with two stages. It was a nice course with some technical parts in the beginning and the last 5km was up a hill. I was a bit unsure how much to push, I always feel like you could push harder afterwards, but always easy to say so ...

Stage 3b

In the afternoon we had another hilly stage, personally I thought that this was the most difficult climbs for the week and it was the hardest stage. It was three long hills and it went well on the first but on the second I hit the wall big time and body felt completely empty. I crossed the finish line a few minutes after and the peleton was chattered in pieces.

Stage 4

Last day at the stage race and 7th race for us in Spain, now my legs started to hurt. Strangely enough, even tho - this was the day that felt best for me, maybe the others were even more tired ... It was 125km to be done and three hills. It was an early breakaway that stayed away to the last descend. The biggest teams controlled this and kept the gap at two minutes almost all the time, which was good because the speed was high, but steady and we dropped a few girls here and there. Considering how the week had gone I was happy to stay in the bunch until the last hill about 10km from the finish. The profile had told us it was a hill with 13% gradient at stages, but it was not at all that steep….That said, the race profile was not always correct ....

There was no prominent placement for anyone in the team and we were rather disappointed. There has still been a fun trip to Spain with the girls and we have learned a lot and got really hard to competitions against the best girls in the world. Emma Johansson did really well and took a 2nd place overall in the stage race!

June 13 back to Falun

10 days had passed and we had stayed in six different hotels! It was really nice to come home to Falun and sleep in my own bed!

Tomorrow, Wednesday, I get a very welcomed visitor from South Africa, it will be great to show him Sweden, just hope my lovely country shows the best side just in time for “mid summer”!