Liv Racing sign Eva Buurman and Amber van der Hulst through 2023

Liv Racing announced that they have signed Eva Buurman and Amber van der Hulst on two-year contracts that will see them racing with the team through 2023. Buurman, 27, joins the team having spent this season with Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank while Van der Hulst, 22, joins the team from Parkhotel Valkenberg.

Buurman is a strong climber who started her career with Parkhotel before moving to Trek-Drops. She then spent two season Boels Dolmans (now known as SD Worx) before moving to Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank. She has not competed since the Tour of Flanders in April citing exhaustion and over training.

“I was exhausted both physically and mentally. The Tour of Flanders was my last race this season. In the weeks after, I felt very empty. I was exhausted, I couldn’t do it anymore," Buurman said.

Liv Racing's manager Eric van den Boom reached out to Buurman to discuss her future and the team went on to offer her a two-year contract.

“I thought: you can always talk. We spoke to each other and I told him honestly that I was not doing well. Instead of the door being shut for that reason, it was opened wide," Buurman said.

“There was interest, I felt confidence. ‘We are going to get back on track together!’ That gave me a lot of confidence. I said to myself: ‘Eef, take this chance, this is a great team to get back on your level!’

“For next season that is my main goal. Step by step I want to get back to my old level and experience the enormous pleasure again. That is a prerequisite for me to be successful. At Liv Racing I expect to make steps in the right direction. I am given time and space. The management has a lot of confidence in me and is patient. That means a lot to me.”

Van der Hulst has had a promising season with top-10 performances at stages of Healthy Ageing Tour, Lotto Belgium Tour, Baloise Ladies Tour and Women's Tour, along with one-day races Le Samyn des Dames, Omloop van de Westhoek, Dwars door het Hageland and Diamond Tour. She aims to improve her sprint with guidance from the team's new director and former two-time world champion Giorgia Bronzini.

“I am very happy with my transfer to Liv Racing. After a good time with my current team I hope to take the next step in my career here," Van der Hulst said. I am still young, there is a lot of room for improvement. Liv Racing can play an important role in that. I feel I will get space to develop myself here. The coaching staff supports me in a kind of voyage of discovery.

“Many aspects of cycling suit me, but what am I really good at? What can I mean for the team? Together with the team I want to specialize If you ask me now what I was born for, it would be the spring Classics. I have a decent sprint and have also shown that my sprint is still reasonable after a hard race.

“My sprint is still far from optimal. I hope to improve on that specific point in the time to come. That is why it is nice to have sports managers like Giorgia Bronzini and Wim Stroetinga in the team. They have a lot of experience when it comes to sprinting, and also in other areas. I can learn from them, both on the road and on the track.”