Juliette Labous for GC and Charlotte Kool for sprints - Team dsm-firmenich PostNL confirms La Vuelta Femenina selection
Cycling
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:
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- for what?frieders311-11-2026
- Blah blah blah!frieders311-11-2026
- Where Merckx just rode every single race he could and won all the time, Hinault won less often (percentage wise) because he was more judicious in what he raced. His palmares are nuts. He had amazing rivals, one to start his career and another to end it in the grand tours. His classics were solid. What sets him apart from Merckx and Pogačar are that he basically dabbled in the classics while the other two love(d) them. I used to compare Pogačar to Hinault for his grand tour record and occasional classics win, until I realized that the comparison was wrong. Pogačar loves the classics - ah, the memory of his reaction to finishing fourth in a 2 person sprint in Flanders in ‘22: utter domination in any one day race since then, even when he doesn’t win. Hinault lived for the grand tours and I don’t think anyone else will ever reach his record. 10 wins in 13 attempts? Good lord. An amazing rider. Wish there was more footage to watch.RidesHills11-11-2026
- I had no idea about that either.
santiagobenites10-11-2026 - great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
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S̶a̶l̶v̶a̶d̶o̶r̶ D̶a̶l̶i̶ ❌ 𝓢𝓪𝓵𝓿𝓪𝓭𝓸𝓻 𝓓-𝓐𝓫𝓲 𝓢𝓶𝓲𝓽𝓱👩🏻🎨✅ We asked @abijesmith to help with our @LaVueltaFem line-up announcement and she created this masterpiece! 😍 Check out who will be aiming to leave their very own mark for us on #LaVueltaFemenina🇪🇸 👇🏻
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