Women’s World Tour points fight: SD Worx dominates, Human Powered Health, Israel-Premier Tech in jeopardy

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SD Worx have turned their spring super classics into a wonderful May Madness, reconfirming their position as the dominant team in world cycling.

Meanwhile, the fight to stay on the WorldTour continues to heat up with Uno-X occupying a precarious position within the top 15 eligible teams, just over 100 points ahead of Lifeplus-Wahoo.

The at-risk WorldTour Israel-Premier Tech Roland and Human Powered Health squads are tantalizingly close to safety, but still languish in the relegation zone.

With overall wins at Itzulia Femenina and the Vuelta a Burgos, plus plenty of stage wins, Lotte Kopecky’s success at Veenendaal-Veenendall and Demi Vollering’s second-place finish at the Vuelta Femenina, SD Worx sits comfortably in top of the UCI ranking.

Having just edged out Trek-Segafredo last year, the team is more than 3400 points ahead of the US registered team already this year, though there is a lot that can change in the remainder of the season.

“Danny Stam was singing ‘Winner Takes All’ into my earpiece for the last few metres. This was the perfect race for the SD Worx team. We worked hard every day to get the best possible result and we really did it as a team. So, we can be really proud of this,” Vollering said after the Vuelta a Burgos.

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It’s like the team can hardly do anything wrong right now, but some tougher tests are coming as spring turns to summer.

Trek-Segafredo hasn’t run much in the last month, but it’s still one of the few teams that really worries SD Worx when it’s on the starting line. Shirin van Anrooij placed second behind Vollering at the Vuelta a Burgos last week while Gaia Realini was on the podium at the Vuelta Femenina earlier in the month.

Meanwhile, FDJ-Suez has enjoyed a revival of fortunes in the first weeks of May thanks to Grace Brown. The Australian took home victories for the team at the Morbihan GP and the five-day Bretagne Ladies Tour.

Evita Muzic also continues to grow with her sixth position in the Women’s Tour and Itzulia Women’s Tour, something that promises a lot for the summer.

promotion and relegation fight

While the battle for dominance at the top of the sport has been interesting to watch, it’s the fight to stay on the WorldTour that has the most at stake right now. Since the start of the season it has been a close fight with three WorldTeams sitting in the relegation zone with a lot to do to stay safe.

On the contrary, it meant that there were three continental teams within reach of promotion at the end of this season. Teams have had to think very tactically about not just how they run, but where they run.

AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step went live in February and hasn’t stopped since. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio has really proven to be a star signing for the team and recently took her second win of the season at Durango-Durango, as well as a third overall at the Vuelta a Burgos. Up-and-coming 21-year-old Gaia Masetti has also had good results of late.

Ceratizit-WNT is the other Continental team that seems destined to move up to the WorldTour in 2024. While it hasn’t had the same great results as AG Insurance, the team has been very consistent and has picked up a few wins along the way.

Although the issues with teams like B&B Hotels and Zaaf have been difficult for the riders involved, it has given some of the teams in the key final places the opportunity to nab some of the best talent and improve their chances of staying on the WorldTour. or get a promotion.

Human Powered Health signed Audrey Cordon-Ragot last month amid the dramatic collapse of Zaaf’s team. The team also signed Marjolein van ‘t Geloof late last year when Lifeplus-Wahoo had to scramble to find a new sponsor when Le Col pulled out late in the day.

Israel-Premier Tech Roland has arguably made the most of the other teams’ woes. The team assured Olympic champion Anna Kiesenhofer of the demise of the fledgling B&B Hotels team. Lizzie Stannard and Maggie Coles-Lyster have arrived from Zaaf in recent weeks.

These late signings have paid some dividends for both WorldTour teams with Cordon-Ragot picking up some valuable points for Human Powered Health this month. The new Israel-Premier Tech Roland riders have not been the main points scorers, but they have bolstered the backing of team leaders such as Tamara Dronova.

Both teams have closed the gap to the final promotion spot with Israel making the biggest gains recently, after a very slow start to the season, and has passed Human Powered Health in the two-year standings, but neither has been able to pull it off. get to safety for now.

Uno-X had to climb the biggest mountain earlier in the year after finishing 2022 as the lowest-ranked WorldTour team, but has become the first of the top-tier teams at risk to break into the top 15 teams. eligible. — UAE Development is not eligible for the promotion.

The Norwegian side have not added to the clamor for new signings and have relied on their existing lineup to get them through so far. Off-season signing Amalie Dideriksen has really delivered for the team this month with a win and a week one win.

Uno-X and Human Powered Health have been relying on some smaller races to score points with the latter not competing in a single WorldTour event in May, while Uno-X only did one with the RideLondon Classique on the cards later this week. week.

Israel-Premier Tech Roland has been reluctant to decline its WorldTour invitations and will participate in all top-tier events in May. It remains to be seen which approach will deliver the goods by the end of the year.