La Vuelta Femenina is the first big stage race on the calendar for ladies. The route offers chances for every type of rider. This is why Team dsm-firmenich PostNL lines up a selection that will have ambitions to succeed in every stage next week.
Coming into the race as one of the big favourites for the overall standings is the 25-year-old French climber Juliette Labous. After phenomenal 2023 where she climbed onto the final podium of Giro d'Italia Donne, Labous will be hungry to further improve her 7th place from last year's Vuelta Femenina.
Labous herself confirms that less than a podium won't satisfy her: "I have done a three-week altitude simulation camp over the last month, and I felt really good in training and recently in the races. We’ve worked a lot to improve my GC abilities so I want to aim for a podium, and we will do everything we can to achieve that goal."
While leadership when the road rises is undisputable, when it comes to bunch sprints the Dutch formation can play several cards. The main weapon in their disposal will be the Dutch rocket Charlotte Kool. The 24-year-old lady is still awaiting her first victory of 2024, but coming to La Vuelta, she can relive her fond memories of stage 2 win from last year.
"Like last year, we have the same goals for the race. We will focus on riding well as a team and go for the best GC result possible with Juliette as our finisher. Next to this, we will also bring a very capable lead-out group and aim to bring Charlotte into a prime position for the sprint finales. We have a mix of experience in the team, but everyone is really motivated, and we are confident that we can bring home some top results," coach Albert Timmer sums up his team's ambitions.
As we know women's cycling, there's never a lack of breakaway action and that is where Team dsm-firmenich PostNL could also strike. Eleonora Ciabocco and young Nienke Vinke had some very strong showings this spring and stages 3 and 7 seems like good opportuities to go for a result for less known riders.
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL lineup for Vuelta Femenina 2024:
Rachele Barbieri
Eleonora Ciabocco
Daniek Hengeveld
Charlotte Kool
Juliette Labous
Abi Smith
Nienke Vinke
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