After taking 23 wins in 2022, Lorena Wiebes has set herself up for 2023 with likely the highest ambitions in the women's peloton. Despite having proven such over the past season, the Dutch rider feels she needs to prove it once again after moving out of Team DSM.
“When I start a race and it can be a sprint, I always want to win. It’s a new season, my winter was good, but you never know how the winters of other riders were. And you don’t know if other riders got faster. I have to prove that I’m again the best sprinter," Wiebes told CyclingWeekly. A three-year deal with Team SD Worx has seen her moving out of the squad where she's achieved so much success and she will have the challenge of returning to her winning ways.
“We did lead-out training on training camp, and it felt good," she said. Wiebes has started off her season at the Women's UAE Tour where she's having several opportunities to open the tab: "The good thing about three stages that can be a sprint is that you can change things in the lead-out, and that will be important for the spring classics.”
A crash in the final kilometers of the opening day saw her suffering and not having the legs to sprint to the win, and was beaten by her former leadout rider Charlotte Kool. However stage 2 will be another chance to go head-to-head and look to take her first win in her new colours.
A very hectic final in the 1st stage of #UAETour @lorenawiebes was involved in the 1st crash with 3,8K to go. She fought back to get back in front & sprinted to 2nd place in Dubai Harbour! Charlotte Kool takes the stage win. Tomorrow we go again. 📸 @GettySport #wesparksuccess
