The 2024 Tour de France Femmes gets underway on August 12th and all eyes will be on defending champion Demi Vollering and her Team SD Worx - Protime. Their lineup for the women's Grand Tour has now been revealed.
As expected, defending Tour de France Femmes champion Vollering leads the way. "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," says sports manager Danny Stam to the team's official website. "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."
Alongside Vollering will be the strong squad of Lorena Wiebes, Niamh Fisher-Black, Barbara Guarischi, Christine Majerus, Mischa Bredewold and Blanka Kata Vas. Wiebes in particular comes with goals of her own.
"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," says Stam. "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."
"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," Stam notes. "It's a very nice course this year. 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," Stam concludes.
Team SD Worx - Protime for 2024 Tour de France Femmes:
Demi Vollering
Lorena Wiebes
Barbara Guarischi
Niamh Fisher-Black
Mischa Bredewold
Christine Majerus
Blanka Kata Vas
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