POWERbreathe by Gaiam commented, “It’s great to be working in partnership with the Global Cycling team. Female cycling is going from strength to strength and we are very excited to be part of the training and development of what is already a very successful group of athletes. We are confident that POWERbreathe will be of a great asset to the team and we are greatly looking forward to seeing the results that Inspiratory Muscle Training can bring”

POWERbreathe works by developing the strength of the muscles we use to breathe. By using the tried and tested method of resistance training POWERbreathe works the diaphragm and intercostals muscles against a pre determined load, just 30 breathes twice daily is enough to strengthen the inspiratory muscles improving endurance by up to 30% aiding sports performance and recovery times.

This sponsorship was great news for the team ahead of the European season opener which was held last weekend in Belgium.  The Het Volk was run over a 126km Course, on a much tougher course than in 2006.  Riding together for the first time, 7 riders from Global Racing started the race and quickly fitted in to the aggressive speed set by Swiss team, Bigla. 

With 7 climbs in the race, it wasn’t long until 2 riders were away from the bunch and riding hard towards the finishing circuits.  Despite being away for some 50km, they were caught with just 25km to go.  Unfortunately, Global Racing did not feature in the counter attack of 9 riders that left the bunch and managed to stay away.  However, with 3 riders remaining in the front chase group, a good result was on the cards.

Helen quickly attacked to try to bridge the gap to the lead group, but she didn’t managed to get across. Then when she was safely back in the group riding into the wind on the final long straight before the tight finish, a rider took out her rear wheel and the team were down to 2.  Helen had to limp into the finish over the last 2 km after changing her broken wheel. 

Norwegian Champion Linn Torp and Nikki Harris were left to battle it out in the group and worked together well right to the line.  Linn finished 25th and Nikki close behind in 26th.  Both were very happy with their start to the season and now move onto races in Holland over the next 2 weeks.