Team SD Worx-Protime is heading to the Tour de France Femmes with a balanced and talented squad. The aim of then team is to help Demi Vollering to achieve a second Tour win. Demi Vollering, Blanka Vas, Niamh Fisher-Black, Mischa Bredewold, Christine Majerus, Barbara Guarischi and Lorena Wiebes will defend the colours of Team SD Worx-Protime at this much-anticipated stage race. Excitement is building, especially with the home start for the team. “As a Dutch team, it’s great that the Tour start takes place in our own country. Our goal is clear: to defend Demi Vollering’s Tour victory,” said sports manager Danny Stam.
“It’s a very nice course this year,” added Danny Stam, continuing his analysis of the race and the squad. “The Grand Départ in the Netherlands is extra nice for us because it is our home base. The Tour is challenging again this year with different courses. On the one hand, there are the fast flat courses, where the danger of echelons lurks around the corner. Should there be echelons, it will not be to our disadvantage. Then it gets hilly with the stage to Liège, which is a copy of the final of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. There the chaff will be separated from the wheat. After the intermediate stage, where anything can happen, it’s off to the Alps with two tricky climbing stages.”
“We put together a core that is balanced with riders who will come into their own on the different terrains. The eyes will be on us, but we are used to that by now. Last year we performed exceptionally well, but also this year we want to colour the race and make it hard. We would like a stage win, of course, but our biggest goal is to defend Demi’s Tour win.””Demi is the absolute leader of our selection. She has gone through a nice evolution and belongs to the world’s top. She has become a lot more mature in her way of racing. Her confidence in her own ability in the high mountains is high. She is well surrounded with this group. Demi can count on having a selection around her that is fully committed to going for that second Tour victory in a row. It is true that there are some stages within Demi’s capabilities, but we are not going to see if and how many stages we can win with her. The main goal must not be compromised: the yellow jersey on l’Alpe d’Huez. That should be our focus.”
“Lorena Wiebes is our spearhead in the flat sprint stages. The opening stage is billiard flat, as is the second stage. Those stages are tailor-made for Lorena. She has shown in recent weeks that she is in good shape. But a bunch sprint is still a bunch sprint. The danger lurks in a small corner,. For her to take the first yellow jersey if she wins at home would be nice. But we are not going to waste forces to defend that jersey then. Final victory prevails. So the green jersey is not immediately our focus either. But if Lorena is suddenly in a really good position, we won’t just let it slip away either.”
“Barbara Guarischi is invaluable in our team. She has a lot of experience. Not only is she ironclad in lead-out work, Barbara is also very important to our group. She always thinks along with the group and we were keen to bring her experience to the Tour de France Femmes.”
“It is common knowledge that Christine Majerus is one of our biggest support givers in this kind of race. She is someone you include in your selection without a doubt. She puts in mountains of work. And just like Barbara Guarischi, she puts her experience fully at the service of the team. With Christine, you never have to doubt that she is good, she always is. Christine is a rider you like to have around. In sprint races you know what to expect from her and also in difficult races she lasts quite long. She is having an excellent season.”
“Blanka Vas is a super versatile rider, ideal for the diverse course of this Tour de France Femmes. She can go long uphill, she can also stand her ground in the sprints. And if she slips into a breakaway, she can be dangerous. So it is a logical choice to select Blanka. She rode an excellent Giro d’Italia, did well in the Vuelta and rode super strong last Sunday in the road race at the Olympics. Blanka continues to make strides and is becoming more and more important in the group.”
“Niamh Fisher-Black is there to support Demi Vollering. The climbing work is her territory and it will be her job to assist Demi Vollering as much as possible in the last two to three tricky stages. She has made strides and tanked confidence with a WorldTour-level win at the Giro d’Italia.”
“Mischa Bredewold is a rider who is going through a strong evolution this season. She got off to a somewhat slow start due to some injury problems, but when you see how she has manifested herself in Spain with stage wins and a strong classification in Itzulia, you can see she is making strides. Even in the first stage of the Tour de Suisse, it was impressive how she went long with the best uphill. So she knows why she is there. Mischa has decent potential for uphill work. She is becoming a complete rider who is of great value on the flat and hilly terrain as well as in climbing. When the 20 best are left, Mischa often hangs on.”
