From a purely sporting point of view, it's all about who will be in charge after the many years of outstanding Annemiek van Vleuten becomes the new face of women's cycling. Top candidates are Tour winner Demi Vollering and world champion Lotte Kopecky.
Changing of the guard at the Col du Tourmalet
The changing of the guard took place during the reign of the old ruler. During the Tour de France Femmes, Demi Vollering outclassed Annemiek van Vleuten, the long-time superman of road cycling, on the legendary climb to the Tourmalet. Although the 40-year-old Dutchwoman had previously confirmed her exceptional position with victories at the Giro and Vuelta, she found her champion in Vollering at the Tour de France. She is now well on the way to succeeding her compatriot. However, rivals are also standing in her way. And the question is also whether there can be anyone at all to fill the place of the Olympic champion, world champion and eight-time Grand Tour winner (four Giro, three Vuelta, one Tour).
"At the moment, I don't know of any rider who wants to be like Annemiek," noted Ronny Lauke. The Canyon//SRAM team boss emphasises above all the determination that has made van Vleuten the superior athlete over many years and which he does not see in the others. "This brutal ambition that Annemiek has brought with her, with which she has subordinated her whole life to cycling, which also means spending a lot of time alone in a hotel on some mountain, is something that many don't manage. They collapse because they need their social environment."
Lauke believes that the many altitude training camps for which van Vleuten was famous - some would say infamous - cannot be expected of others. So there will be a boss with a new profile.
Heir to the throne Demi Vollering?
The first candidate for this is Demi Vollering. The 27-year-old finally dethroned van Vleuten when she was still aiming to defend her title at the Tour de France Femmes. She proved her coolness and killer instinct. She initially refrained from leading a group of three, which also included Canyon//SRAM rider Kasia Niewiadoma, and speculated on her team-mate Marlen Reusser coming back. When this happened and van Vleuten was worn down, the young woman, who had been working as a florist in her father's flower shop just a few years earlier, turned into Lady Merciless and chased up the serpentines as a soloist.
Because she also won the Ardennes Triple (Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Walloon Arrow and Amstel Gold Race), she is undoubtedly predestined to become the new role model. However, she will have to refrain from unsavoury actions such as slipstreaming behind the team car on stage 5 of the Tour. She was given a 20-second time penalty for this, but put it behind her and two days later set the record straight by winning the Tourmalet. The former flower girl now has the steely hardness of a blade that can remove even the most stubborn thorns from the stem of a rose.
World champion Lotte Kopecky as second contender
The second candidate for the vacant queen's seat rides in the same team. The 28-year-old Lotte Kopecky does not have the climbing qualities of Vollering, but is more explosive. She proved this during her World Championship triumphs on track and road under proof. "It's crazy, three World Championship titles in one week. As a young girl, I just wanted to be competitive. I never thought I would be this good," she said immediately after her best week in the sport so far. The month before, at the Tour de France, she proved above all her qualities of suffering in the high mountains and defeated van Vleuten and Niewiadoma, who were considered to be stronger cyclists, in the time trial.
Kasia Niewiadoma: Parallels to Annemiek van Vleuten
The Polish rider has long been the best of the rest when it comes to tours. Although her last major victory on the road was some time ago at the Amstel Gold Race 2019, she regularly achieves podium finishes. Last season, the 29-year-old finally achieved real success on gravel: she became gravel world champion. With her new-found feeling for winning, she is a rider to watch out for in the coming season.
Her style - the World Championship victory was the result of a 26-kilometre solo attack - is reminiscent of van Vleuten. However, she doesn't have her ambition, which borders on doggedness. Shortly after winning the World Championships, she declared a bikepacking tour with her partner, the former professional cyclist, to be by far her favourite experience on the bike. Taylor Phinney. That's what you call a good work-life balance. If this athlete, who is also popular in the peloton, gets through the season without any health problems, she could become the 2024 cover woman.
German power trio: Ricarda Bauernfeind, Antonia Niedermaier & Liane Lippert
Kasia Niewiadoma benefits from the fact that she can now hope for considerable support in the mountains from Canyon//SRAM. The German Ricarda Bauernfeind surprised everyone with a stage win at the Tour after a solo ride of almost 36 kilometres. The 23-year-old even overtook the men's star in the special classification of the most overwhelming breakaway attempt of the year. Remco Evenepoel (29-kilometre solo win on the 18th stage of the Vuelta).
Neo-pro Antonia Niedermaier contributed a formidable stage win in the mountains at the Giro. "Both are still very young. We hope that their development will continue. We also have Chloe Dygert, who, if she stays healthy, will also be able to ride in such performance regions. Our entire group has become more competitive and we can therefore play a good role in difficult tours in the future," says team boss Lauke.
Liane Lippert can also play a leading role. In her year together with superstar van Vleuten at Movistar, the 25-year-old from Lake Constance matured into a winning rider, winning a Stage win at the Tour. She is a force to be reckoned with, especially in the one-day races - 2024 Olympics in Paris included. Dutch rider Fem van Empel (Visma | Lease a Bike), who is only 21 years old, has real superstar potential. She shook up the cyclocross scene in the winter and now wants to focus more on road racing. "Choosing just one is not an option. Cyclocross is the most fun for me, but I'm also good on the road and want to be the best there," she said. That's what you call ambition.
Professional cyclist as a side job?
When it comes to pay in women's cycling, there is still plenty of room for improvement. According to the annual report by The Cyclists Alliance (TCA), 25 per cent of the women surveyed at Continental level receive no salary at all and three quarters have second jobs. However, the report gives hope that this could soon change: The proportion of female riders with a university degree or parallel studies is 98 per cent in the Continental sector and in the World Tour, according to the TCA. Such an educated peloton should also be able to formulate its demands in contract negotiations.
