The 19-year-old was a silver medallist in the junior women’s road race at last year’s World Championships and is a former junior national road race champion.
Schneider and her elder sister Samantha both rode for the US Team Illuminate at the start of this season. Only a few months into their contract, they chose to step away from the first-year team after disagreements with the management and allegations of late payment of salaries, a claim the team has denied. Unperturbed by the change, the younger Schneider had a strong season with a stage win at the Thüringen Rundfahrt, while riding for the US national team, and third in the road race at the Pan American championships. She finished racing in September and is now looking forward to making the step up to professional racing.
“My cycling winter has flown by, but I've never been so motivated to get back on the bike and start training with the prospect of so many new goals and races,” said Schneider.
“There are a lot of new challenges for me this year and I'm looking forward to all of them with a huge sense of positivity. I've been very fortunate in the past two years to have been part of the American team riding in Europe. I love the cycling events on the European continent and am really looking forward to riding in even more races in 2018.
“This will be my first year in the Women's WorldTour and I have the privilege of learning from the strongest riders in the field and an experienced team management. My goals are to learn as much as I can and to be the best possible teammate for all these riders I admire so much. My individual goals are primarily on the U23-women's championships.”
Final 2018 roster
Schneider is the last confirmed rider for the Boels Dolmans team for 2018 after the team also extended with Nikki Brammeier. The team also confirmed that Kasia Pawlowska will leave the team after requesting to end her contract. Schneider will join a strong line-up that includes Lizzie Deignan, Anna van der Breggen and new world champion Chantal Blaak. Team manager Danny Stam is confident in the American’s abilities.
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“As one of only a handful of young riders, Skylar has proven that she can handle the step up from the juniors to elite women's cycling with confidence, reinforced by a number of excellent finishes among the top and particularly her stage win in Thüringen,” said team manager Danny Stam.
“I'm happy we have been able to add this great talent to our squad. Schneider now has the opportunity to develop further amongst a group of strong riders and could prove to be a trump card in the bunch sprints.”
Boels Dolmans for 2018: Anna van der Breggen, Chantal Blaak, Amy Pieters, Jip van den Bos, Lizzie Deignan, Megan Guarnier, Amalie Dideriksen, Karol-Ann Canuel and Christine Majerus, Nikki Brammeier and Skylar Schneider.
