Team SD Worx-Protime

A photo finish between teammates doesn't happen too often but that was the only way to separate SD Worx's Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky today!

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Team SD Worx in their new kit on their training camp in Spain

This Dutch team are the dominant force in women's cycling, topping the year-end WorldTour rankings in seven of the past eight seasons. They are home to the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift champion, Demi Vollering, along with the world road race champion, Lotte Kopecky.

The team started life as a small domestic squad in 2010 under the name Dolmans Landscaping Team. In 2011 they were granted a UCI licence and from there they blossomed, acquiring a new title sponsor in Boels Rental in 2012, and soon growing into one of the very best teams in the sport.

Over the years they’ve been home to the likes of Lizzie Deignan, Anna van der Breggen and Megan Guarnier, and established themselves as 

 super-team of the women’s peloton, usually the ones to beat in both stage races and one-day Classics. In 2021, SD Worx took over as the team’s title sponsor, but the same healthy budget and star-studded line-up continued from the Boels-Dolmans days.

After Anna van der Breggen’s retirement, Vollering stepped into her role as GC leader, whilst the arrival of Kopecky only strengthened their already rock-solid Classics team. Lorena Wiebes arrived in 2023 to provide victories in the bunch sprints, while the versatile European time trial champion Marlen Reusser has developed to add a threat across the board. 

They have a strong stable of domestiques and a handful of up-and-coming talents, such as Niamh Fisher-Black, Anna Shackley, and Blanka Vas.

Demi Vollering

Lotte Kopecky

Lorena Wiebes

Marlen Reusser

Mischa Bredewold

Niamh Fisher-Black

Blanka Vas

Christine Majerus

Anna Shackley

Femke Gerritse

Marie Schreiber

Elena Cecchini

Barbara Guarischi

Lonneke Uneken

Chantal van den Broek-Blaak

Femke Markus

Racing

Analysis

SD Worx Team Talk: How can the dominant force in women's cycling get any better?

SD Worx dominated the WorldTour calendar in 2023

When it comes to Women’s WorldTour teams, 

 are a squad that need no introduction. Top-ranked team in seven of the last eight seasons, winners of almost every big Classic and the 

, two of the world’s best riders, SD Worx are the super team of the women’s peloton.

In 2023, the team somehow improved upon their already dominant status. They  played the numbers game to win countless one-day races and stages - with various riders thanks to their strength in depth - plus took the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift title, and finished 1-2 on more occasions than you can count. Despite the level in the women’s peloton elevating year-on-year, SD Worx still remain a cut above, carrying favourite status into every race they start.

Under the guidance of former world champion and now DS, Anna van der Breggen, the mighty team has used their strength and tactical ability to out-do the likes of Lidl-Trek, Canyon-SRAM and Jumbo-Visma all season, adding sprinter Lorena Wiebes in 2023 to dominate yet another discipline.

With a big 2023 campaign under their belt, attention will soon turn to 2024, where the Dutch team will no doubt be scheming how they can do even better, and tick off the few achievements they haven’t scored yet.

With 61 wins in 2024, it’s hard to pick out which were the most important. Demi Vollering’s 

 victory stands out, especially with Lotte Kopecky in second. SD Worx’s domination of the Classics will also be remembered, though, from Vollering and Kopecky’s finish line battle at S

, to the Belgian’s huge home win at the Tour of Flanders, and Vollering’s Ardennes clean sweep. It wasn’t just the two big names who won, though, with Marlen Reusser winning Gent-Wevelgem, and Lorena Wiebes victorious in Ronde van Drenthe and Scheldeprijs.

After their dominant spring - they won 13 races between Opening Weekend and Liège-Bastogne-Liège - the Spanish block of stage racing brought more success, mainly for Vollering and Reusser. Though only a 2.Pro race, we also can’t forget the Thüringen Ladies Tour, which was SD Worx domination to a tee: they won all six stages, each with a different member of the team.

Then, of course, the summer brought the Tour de France Femmes, where the team impressed on several fronts, naturally with Vollering’s yellow jersey victory but also through Kopecky’s incredible Tourmalet performance which earned her second overall and the green jersey after winning the opening stage in exciting fashion. Despite the obvious success - the team won the race and four stages - there were a few days where they let the win go by refusing to work in the chase.

One of the impressive things to note about SD Worx’s 2023 campaign is that all but three riders - Anna Shackley, Femke Markus and Chantal van den Broek-Blaak, on maternity leave - took wins, including new signings Mischa Bredewold and Barbara Guarischi, with the latter also proving a key cog in Wiebes’ lead-out. This shows how much depth there is in the team, rather than the success only falling at the feet of the big names.

Looking at their list of wins for 2023, it’s hard to imagine there were any disappointments for SD Worx this year, but there are a couple of wins they missed out on. In one-day racing, Paris-Roubaix continues to evade their grasp, which remains a sticking point. Perhaps the biggest close-call, however, is the Vuelta Femenina, where Demi Vollering took two stage wins but missed out on the overall to Annemiek van Vleuten. Despite their success at the Tour de France Femmes, you could also say this came at the expense of the Giro d’Italia, where they didn’t even place a rider on the final podium. The Tour is of course the big one, but SD Worx could have hoped for a more consistent presence across the Grand Tour podiums.

The best team in the world who won almost all the important races, often taking runner-up spot too.

SD Worx’s Top Five

Repeating the success of 2023 will certainly be an ask for SD Worx in 2024, but they’ll undoubtedly be up for it. With almost no changes to their roster - there are no departures, and only the return of Chantal van den Broek-Blaak from maternity leave and the arrival of new signing Femke Gerritse so far - it’s likely their winning formula will be similar in 2024.

Wiebes, Vollering, Kopecky and Reusser will be their main cards in the Classics, with European champion Bredewold also arguably earning her a spot in the spring leadership rotation. Where it would be interesting to see SD Worx do something different is in the Grand Tours. It’s expected that Demi Vollering will be aiming at another Tour de France Femmes victory, but with a bigger gap between the Giro and the Tour this year, could she perhaps go for both? If not, it would be good to see the team send a real GC threat squad to that race: 

 definitely has the ability to go for a top result, but she needs the support around her.

As for Lotte Kopecky, we might expect to see a slightly less prolific season for the Belgian as she will be building towards riding on the track at the Paris Olympics. It seems likely that she may therefore miss all or part of the Tour de France, so SD Worx will have to look elsewhere if they want to repeat the volume of wins in that race, particularly on the punchy days.

The one place SD Worx will be really hoping to find a win in 2024 is in the Paris-Roubaix velodrome. The race is only three years old, but is quickly growing into a big gap in the team’s palmarès. The question is how will they win it, and with who? The race is so unpredictable and prone to misfortune that it’s hard for a team, even SD Worx, to control it, and they seem to have been on the wrong side of things so far. Lotte Kopecky seems the obvious choice to win here, but powerhouse Marlen Reusser could also pull off a signature solo move, or even Chantal van den Broek-Blaak depending on when she’s back to her best. It’s not a Vollering race, but Lorena Wiebes, with her growing all-round strength, could also be an option.

The flipside of being a team as successful and dominant as SD Worx is that their roster is built around big hitters - proven riders who can win, or riders who can work hard for their teammates to win. As such, their line-up is wall-to-wall stars, with only a few spots left over for younger riders still making their name, and even then, SD Worx tend to recruit riders who have already made waves. Think of Mischa Bredewold this year - the 23-year-old had already won a WorldTour race and worn a jersey at the Tour de France Femmes even before joining SD Worx.

Of course, it will be hard to find leadership chances in the stacked SD Worx squad, but opportunities tend to arise in smaller races for the all-powerful team, so expect to see Schreiber get a big result one day next year.

What did you think of SD Worx's season? Is their domination an impressive feat or too much? Get involved in the discussion below.

News

Race News

'Set to colour the year' – SD Worx stick to bright design for 2024 kit

Lorena Wiebes wears the new SD Worx jersey for 2024

 have released their racing kit for 2024, sticking to their trend of colourful designs with a jersey that features pink, purple and yellow blended colours.

, which has also been SD Worx’s clothing sponsor since 2021, taking over from 

The 2024 jersey is a similar but slightly reworked version of the 2023 design, featuring a base colour of pinks and purples, with yellow and orange accents popping on the shoulders and hem.

This colour scheme replicates the brand colours of main sponsor SD Worx, a payroll company, whose logo features on the front of the jersey, with secondary sponsor Protime just below.

The lower half of the jersey also features the white asterisk that has become a signature motif on SD Worx kits. The colourful jersey is paired with simple black shorts and white Specialized helmets.

The riders' black Specialized Tarmac SL8's also feature pops of colour to match the racing jersey. 

Specialized extends SD Worx partnership until 2028

“In 2024, the best women's team in the world wants to continue to set the tone. With that comes eye-catching kit. Clothing sponsor Specialized has designed a beautiful colourful, geometric and dynamic jersey. So that our riders will also literally colour the race in 2024,” a press release from the team read.

SD Worx are rarely hard to spot in the peloton, often near the front and collecting a wealth of wins, but the brightly coloured jersey - which the team describe as “dynamic” - will be undoubtedly be recognisable in the bunch.

"The shirt stands out thanks to the colors that flow nicely into each other,” Lorena Wiebes commented. “Graphically it is a special shirt. We will easily spot each other in the peloton."

Photos from the team camp also show off Mischa Bredewold’s European champion’s jersey and Marlen Reusser’s Swiss national champion get-up, which feature solid colours and are some of the bolder special champion designs in the peloton.

The likes of Chantal van den Broek-Blaak and Lorena Wiebes also have world champion and European champion stripes on their sleeves and colours to mark their stints in those jerseys.

Tech

Tech News

Specialized extend SD Worx partnership until 2028

Specialized will support SD Worx for another five years, after an already decade-long partnership

 have announced a new long-term partnership that will see the American brand support the team until the end of 2028.

Specialized has been SD Worx’s bike partner since 2014, and this new deal marks a particularly long partnership in women’s cycling, which has previously suffered against the backdrop of shorter, more precarious sponsorship deals.

"This renewal reaffirms [Specialized and SD Worx's] shared commitment to supporting the growth of women’s cycling and continued success as the best team in women’s cycling," a statement from the team read. 

SD Worx have recently been crowned the best Women’s WorldTour team of the year

 for the seventh time in eight years, and it seems their unrivalled success - plus the general commercial growth of women’s cycling - is helping to secure their long-term future.

“As a team, we have been working with Specialized since 2014 with great satisfaction,” SD Worx general manager Danny Stam said of the partnership. “We are proud to announce that the long-standing partnership between Specialized and Team SD Worx will be extended through 2028. We can be proud of what we have achieved together as partners over the past few years in professionalising women's cycling.”

Stiffer, lighter, more aerodynamic – Specialized launches new Tarmac SL8

For the leader of S-Racing, Scott Jackson, the chance for Specialized to be able to support some of the most successful athletes in cycling, such as 

“To have a consistent long-term partnership allows us to really dive into each and every technical detail to support the best athletes in the world at the highest level on the world’s largest stage,” Jackson said. “To be able to support such a successful team and be a part of their success makes us feel proud and honoured, as well as eager for what’s to come.”

As well as supporting top athletes, SD Worx highlighted the importance of advancing women’s racing and “elevating the sport, and attaining unmatched levels of success” as a result of the partnership between the Dutch squad and such a big bicycle brand.

SD Worx are a rare example of a top women’s team that have neither a men’s team counterpart nor a bicycle manufacturer as a title sponsor, and the renewed commitment from Specialized appears to reaffirm their healthy budget and financial support, and suggests that they will continue to be one of the biggest women’s teams for years to come.

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Name	Age	UCI Career Wins	UCI Points
Demi Vollering	27	32	5125
Lotte Kopecky	28	41	5107
Lorena Wiebes	25	77	3526
Marlen Reusser	32	24	2630
Mischa Bredewold	23	7	1068

Team SD Worx-Protime

Team SD Worx-Protime

The Team

Top Team SD Worx-Protime Stories

SD Worx Team Talk: How can the dominant force in women's cycling get any better?

'Set to colour the year' – SD Worx stick to bright design for 2024 kit

Specialized extend SD Worx partnership until 2028

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