SD Worx and Protime have prolonged their sponsorship of the ladies’s WorldTour workforce till 2028, with Lorena Wiebes additionally extending her contract and becoming a member of Lotte Kopecky as workforce chief of one of many tremendous groups within the ladies’s peloton.
SD Worx-Protime have already received 14 races in 2024, regardless of Demi Vollering struggling to achieve success and her choice to not proceed contract negotiations for 2025.
FDJ-Suez look like the frontrunner to signal the 2023 Tour de France Femmes however SD Worx-Protime are constructing a future with out Vollering.
First, they introduced Kopecky’s contract extension, now the workforce’s title sponsorship is safe, as is that of sprinter and Classics rider Wiebes. Specialized have additionally prolonged their sponsorship with the workforce till 2028.
Kopecky will goal the Giro d’Italia Women in early June after which goal success on the observe and highway on the Paris Olympic Games. She confirmed on Monday that she won’t journey the Tour de France Femmes, which begins only a day after her Olympic observe programme.
“This proves the arrogance that each fundamental sponsors have in our workforce however actually additionally within the additional improvement of ladies’s biking,” workforce supervisor Erwin Janssen mentioned when SD Worx-Protime made their announcement.
“We are one of many few high groups within the peloton that focuses completely on ladies’s biking. I believe that is additionally a part of our energy. Women’s biking has been on the rise tremendously in recent times. There is way more consideration on the game. Our fundamental sponsors SD Worx and Protime are additionally anticipating that development with us for the approaching years.”
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Kopecky has received Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix in current weeks, whereas Wiebes received Miron Ronde van Drenthe, Gent-Wevelgem In Flanders Fields and Scheldeprijs. The workforce’s roster additionally contains Marlen Reusser, Niamh Fisher-Black, Chantal van den Broek-Blaak and Blanka Vas.
Wiebes joined SD Worx-Protime in 2023 from DSM and now has a brand new contract that lasts till the tip of 2028.
“I did not hesitate for lengthy. I really feel utterly at residence on this workforce and I additionally really feel that on this surroundings I could make the mandatory steps within the coming years,” Wiebes mentioned.
“It is a giant praise for me that the workforce needs to work with me as far into the longer term as 2028. I used to be supplied a pleasant contract, so we rapidly reached an settlement.”
Wiebes is formidable however insists she will get together with Kopecky.
“In the races, we strengthen one another. How Lotte sometimes pulls the dash for me is unprecedented. In the classics, I pull as much as her. It’s a fantastic prospect that we are going to nonetheless be collectively in a workforce for the following 4 years,” Wiebes mentioned.
Directeur sportif Danny Stam has additionally prolonged his contact with the workforce and so will information Kopecky and Wiebes within the years to return.
“It is well-known – attending to the highest is difficult, however staying on the high is even tougher many instances over. I’m happy with what we’ve got achieved and grateful to the sponsors for all the arrogance they’ve in us.
“The biking workforce is part of my life. Especially now that ladies’s biking is growing enormously and the competitors can be getting stronger, it’s a nice problem to stay the very best workforce within the coming years.
“Lorena is an actual winner. As a dash star, she is aware of win the mandatory races, however we additionally see that she is making big strides within the classics. She is keen to study and get stronger. In addition, she suits effectively within the workforce. Often she is an environment creator within the workforce.”