Last season FDJ-SUEZ made seismic statements by signing Demi Vollering, Elise Chabbey and Ally Wollaston, the trio combining for 81% of the team’s 22 road victories in 2025, almost doubling the team’s total number of road wins in one season. So now the big question is – can the French team make additional impacts with recruitment, in what is their sixth season as a top-tier team?
The team supplanted SD Worx-Protime as the top-ranked Women’s WorldTour squad this past season with a show of force on one-day and stage races, their rival having been at the top of the heap for four years. The new trio of recruits, along with Juliette Berthet (née Labous), all finished in the UCI’s individual top 20 ranking, Vollering securing the number one sport ahead of former teammate Lorena Wiebes, with Chabbey and Berthet in sixth and seventh, respectively.
New ‘combative’ riders
Now that FDJ-SUEZ holds the top ranking to start the 2026 season, the team hasn’t finished their story but have more chapters to write in their history. Having climbed to the top of the WorldTour, it’s time to reload and hold position.
Four riders departed this year, including the retirement of Eugénia Duval who spent her entire 11-year career with the FDJ programme, and a solid quartet of new signings bring experience so the team won’t skip a beat.
Team General Manager Stephen Delcourt uses “combative” as a common description for each new rider. Three of the four move from other WorldTour teams – Franziska Koch (Picnic PostNL), Eva van Agt (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ).
Among that group, 25-year-old Koch already has six seasons on the WorldTour level, bringing versatility and her German road title for the next two seasons. She has spent a bulk of energy to support sprinter Charlotte Kool, who had podiums at Scheldeprijs and Gent-Wevelgem but only one win last year on stage 1 at Baloise Ladies Tour. Koch has the power to help Vollering and Chabbey in stage races, while should have the freedom to go for stage wins and one-day race results.