Canyon//SRAM and Lidl - Trek: Two top German teams in the Women's World Tour 2026

A total of 14 racing teams have been authorised to compete in the women's World Tour series in the 2026 season, with the US team EF Education-Oatly led by Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner being a new addition. The team previously rode with a second-class Pro licence. The number of teams in the Women's World Tour has been reduced from 15 to 14, with the German team Ceratizit and Roland Le Dévoluy from Switzerland also missing. Nevertheless, two teams will continue to ride under the German flag in the coming season. In addition to Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto around 2024 Tour de France winner Kasia Niewiadoma, Lidl-Trek has also recently obtained its starting licence in Germany. Last year, the grocery chain Lidl acquired a majority stake in the racing team and intends to relocate part of the team organisation to its headquarters in Bad Wimpfen, Baden-Württemberg.

Lidl-Trek becomes German

The racing team has also strengthened its team for the new season with Tour de France stage winner Ricarda Bauernfeind from Eichstätt. The strongest team alongside Visma-Lease a bike from the Netherlands (with Tour winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Marianne Vos) is likely to be the French team FDJ-SUEZ led by Dutch rider Demi Vollering. The German Franziska Koch, who was previously under contract with Picnic-PostNL, has moved there. Her previous racing team was the only one not to receive a licence for the next three years, but only for the 2026 season for the time being. According to a press release from the cycling world governing body UCI, financial criteria must be re-examined in order to extend the licence. The 14 top teams have a secure starting place in the most important races such as the Tour de France Femmes.

The 14 teams on the Women's World Tour at a glance*

• AG INSURANCE - SOUDAL TEAM (AGS - BEL)
• CANYON//SRAM ZONDACRYPTO (CSZ - GER)
• EF EDUCATION - OATLY (EFO - USA)
• FDJ UNITED - SUEZ (TFS - FRA)
• FENIX - PREMIER TECH (FPT - BEL)
• HUMAN POWERED HEALTH (HPH - USA)
• LIDL - TREK (LTK - GER)
• LIV - ALULA - JAYCO (LIV - OFF)
• MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV - ESP)
• TEAM PICNIC POSTNL (TPP - NED)
• TEAM SD WORX - PROTIME (SDW - NED)
• TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE (TVL - NED)
• UAE TEAM ADQ (UAD - UAE)
• UNO-X MOBILITY (UXM - NOR)

*In brackets: Team and country abbreviations