Kristen Faulkner will take on her first Bike Exchange Jayco race at Omloop Het Niusbrod on Saturday.

Bike Exchange Jayco has already had a promising start to the season with its first international podium of the year, even though two key leaders, Faulkner and Amanda Spratt, have yet to wear numbers in Europe. Ruby Roseman-Gannon, a first-year pro who has been on a winning streak during the Australian summer, finished second in the first stage of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, while Alexandra Manley came in fourth. Georgia Baker also placed fourth on stage 4.

"I am really happy with the team's start in Australia and Valencia. We made some big changes to our roster over the off-season and it's great to see this group of riders coming together so well," sport director Martin Vestby said in a team media release. We go into the opening weekend of the Classic with a lot of caution and a lot of positive expectations."

The two opening weekend teams will be split evenly between new and returning riders, with Faulkner joined by Roseman Gannon, Baker, Tenniel Campbell, Arianna Fidanza, and Ane Santesteban for Saturday's Ghent to Ninove, Belgium They will compete in a 128-km race.

"Nieuwblad, the first classical race of the season, is a big battle that brings everyone back to the cobbles. We have a really strong team coming in and we're ambitious for them to do well in a mixed field."

"I think the strength of the team right now is that we have several riders who can deliver results in different scenarios.

Last year, Grace Brown and Sarah Roy led the opening weekend, but both riders have moved on, so Bike Exchange Jayco's challenge of adapting to the cobblestones will be a combination of new riders adapting to the team and continuing riders adapting to the newcomers. The challenge of adapting to cobblestones at Bike Exchange Jaycor is a combination of new riders adapting to the team and continuing riders adapting to the new riders.

"Nieuwsblad gives us a great opportunity to see how fit we are as individuals and how ready we are for the season.

After Nieuwsblad, which kicks off the racing weekend, Sunday brings the Omloop van Het Haegeland, where the 29-year-old Volkner, who has raced for two years on the TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank, will join Roseman-Gannon and Campbell for his second He will be racing with Roseman-Gannon and Campbell. Nina Kessler, Chelsea Tan, who is making her team debut, and Urschka Zigato round out the team.

"For me personally, I want to do well for the team. We have a lot of good sprinters and when we get the numbers together at the end of the day, we have the talent to finish the race."