“I think it’s a danger actually for women’s cycling" - Annemiek van Vleuten shares concerns over Team SD Worx dominance

There is little doubt who is dominant force in the world of women's cycling. Team SD Worx were by far the most successful team in 2023 and given the retirement of arguably their biggest challenger, Annemiek van Vleuten, 2024 could be even more one-sided.

Sharing her concerns about the stage of the women's World Tour, van Vleuten is worried that Team SD Worx dominance could cause long-term damage. “I would like to see that more teams are on an equal level and fight each other because last season there was too much quality in one team, and it’s better if the quality gets a bit spread out,” she says on the Bobby & Jens podcast.

With the likes of Demi Vollering, Lotte Kopecky, Lorena Wiebes, Marlen Reusser and more, Team SD Worx unquestionably have a star-studded roster. Did van Vleuten ever consider joining them herself? “My reason why I went to Movistar and not to another team is because I thought it’s nicer if more teams start to fight each other and spread out the quality,” she said. “I think it’s a danger actually for women’s cycling because it makes it less effective if one team is winning too much.”

“Also for the team it’s not so nice because all the other teams are going to ride against them,” she concludes, lamenting the somewhat closed nature of elite women's cycling. “For example in Spain, there are not a lot of WorldTour level Spanish girls. So what’s going wrong there? Maybe there’s an opportunity to develop a bit more the cycling in countries that are not at the moment so well developed in cycling.”