Movistar’s Annemiek van Vleuten may have dominated at the biggest stage races at Giro d’Italia Donne and Tour de France Femmes, but it was SD Worx‘s consistency throughout the season that won them overall team classifications in the UCI Ranking and the Women’s World Tour.
The powerful Dutch team has topped both rankings for six of the previous seven seasons as they keep a tight grip on their status as the most dominant women’s team in the world.
“I am definitely proud of that. It shows that for years we have managed to be the best team in the most important race series. To prove it, again and again, is a huge challenge. Especially when you see in recent years that the competition is getting bigger and bigger,” said Sports Manager Danny Stam.
“Many WorldTour teams have joined, setting up a women’s team in addition to a men’s team. They all build a team around two to three top female riders. Nowadays, you see that even in women’s cycling the talents are committed much earlier. To then win the WorldTour for so many years in a different composition, I think, is a great achievement.”
The Women’s WorldTour replaced the former World Cup one-day race series in 2016 with then Boels Dolmans topping the charts, and they have gone on to win team classifications on the UCI Ranking and Women’s WorldTour in 2016-2019 and 2021-2022. Trek-Segafredo won both series rankings in 2021.
This year, SD Worx secured 20 victories, and 11 of those were part of the Women’s WorldTour in 2022. Their biggest achievements included Lotte Kopecky’s wins at Strade Bianche and Tour of Flanders, Demi Vollering winning the overall title at Itzuia Women, Marlene Reasseur winning a stage and Vollering was second overall at the Tour de France Femmes, and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio closed out the season with the overall win at Tour de Romandie.
“We started the season very strongly. So the Spring Classics went well with nice victories in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Strade Bianche and Brabantse Pijl, among others. That spring created a lot of expectations. In Spain, we still raced well, but then we had a down period. In the Tour de France Femmes, we were good again. Then we performed below par in Norway, Sweden and in the Simac Ladies Tour. If you end the season in Romandie like that again, you can be satisfied. That also shows the resilience within the group,” Stam said.
Stam also acknowledged the importance of consistency on an international calendar that is growing every season to include longer and…
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