When the beginning of August rolls round, it’s time to keep a close eye on the social media accounts of all the WorldTour teams. It’s the day when the UCI officially allows them to announce transfers for the following season, and gives us a good indication of the direction each outfit is looking to go in for the year ahead. Some teams might be looking to strengthen their sprinting or climbing contingent, others might be bolstering their roster with some more experienced riders, while many will look to invest in bringing young talent to the pro ranks.
Of course, rumours swirl about transfers long before the 1st of August, and few teams manage to keep big signings under wraps until then. This year was no different: whispers were already spreading at the opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes about Lorena Wiebes’ move to Team SD Worx from Team DSM, while U23 Giro d’Italia winner Leo Hayter was spotted on an Ineos Grenadiers training camp weeks before the transfer window opened.
In the men’s professional peloton, the likes of Groupama-FDJ, Alpecin Deceuninck, Team BikeExchange-Jayco and Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux have already been extremely busy, announcing multiple new signings each so far. The women’s WorldTour has remained a little more cagey, but with some exciting signings nonetheless.
Lorena Wiebes, Team DSM to Team SD Worx
Despite having a contract with Team DSM until 2024, the fastest sprinter in the women’s peloton is moving teams for next season. Team SD Worx announced that Wiebes had a clause in her contract meaning that she could leave DSM if she received a higher offer from elsewhere. With the money on offer from the Team SD Worx, it’s rumoured that Wiebes will now be the highest paid rider in the entire women’s WorldTour.
Team SD Worx also implied in the press release that they were missing a pure sprinter from their line-up and that Lotte Kopecky would still be the team’s key rider for the Classics. It will be interesting to see how Wiebes fares without the dialled lead-out train she has become used to at Team DSM, but with the firepower of Team SD Worx, it’s likely that they will be able to replicate this. With Wiebes, Vollering and Kopecky in their squad for 2023, Team SD Worx are going to be very hard to beat next seson and we can expect them to be dominant on a variety of parcours. They still are yet to find an answer to Tour de France Femmes winner Annemiek van Vleuten in the mountains…