I flew to Germany today in preparation for the start of Thüringen Rundfahrt. Having missed out on racing it last year because my team elected to race the Giro over Thüringen, I have to say – I’m super happy about coming back this year. We have a strong, motivated team. We know that the circuit suits us, and I think we’re all really excited to see what we can accomplish together this week.

THE MEMORIES

Thuringen holds a special place in my part in large part because of my success at this race – six stages wins, two points jersey and two overall wins.

Winning the general classification with Hitec in 2011 is one of the most satisfying moments in my career. The team started the race as the underdogs, and when I took the yellow jersey from a breakaway on stage three, I don’t think anyone thought I would be able to keep it.

I lost the jersey on the stage six time trial – finishing 26 seconds behind Judith Arndt and 14 seconds behind Amber Neben, who proved my toughest competition in the overall. It was the second-to-last stage, but we never lost hope.

I was able to make up time from bonus seconds on the intermediate sprint on the last day. I remember battling with Ina Teutenberg, who was Amber’s teammate at the time, in those sprints. She probably beat me in all the sprints, but I still get enough seconds to sneak in there and get the jersey.

I ended up winning the overall by six seconds over Amber. We were a small team in comparison to the likes of HTC-Highroad and Garmin-Cervelo, and to bring home that yellow jersey, my first at a major stage race, was huge.

My second general classification win followed two years later, during my first year with ORICA-AIS. I won the opening stage by outsprinting Lizzie Armitstead and

Ellen van Dijk. Having banked bonus seconds at both intermediate sprints and on the finish line, I pulled on the yellow jersey – and I kept it all the until the end, beating out my teammate Shara Gillow to the top step by 32 seconds. Lisa Brennauer was in third place over one minute behind.

While the second overall victory may have looked easier than the first, it was definitely no walk in the park. We had to work hard to keep that jersey all week. I was constantly on the hunt for bonus seconds, which were especially important because the individual time trial that year definitely didn’t suit me.

THE COURSE

The 28^th Thuringen starts on Friday July 17 with a short evening road race. It ends the following Thursday – seven days and eight stages later. I haven’t looked at each of the courses too closely yet, but I know this terrain suits me. There’s always lots of up and downs and twists and turns. It’s technical racing through town. There are some cobbles – even some cobbled climbs. It’s got a bit of everything, and I love it all.

The first stage is the same stage I won two years ago, so obviously I like that one. There is a stage that finishes on a cobbled climb Steile Wand that plays to my strengths. Dörtendorfer Berg is also a nice one. Really – there’s not many stages here that I don’t like. I can’t say that I’m targeting one over the other.

THE GOAL

Having won the race twice, it will be a surprise to absolutely no one that I have big expectations for myself in Thüringen – then again, I always have big expectations for myself. I don’t pin on a number unless I think it’s possible I can challenge for the win.

The main objective is to race my best and get the most out of myself. I hope that in doing that, it’s enough to win at least one stage and be up there on the overall classification. I have done a really big training block at home, and I hope my efforts have been worthwhile.