Lorena Wiebes was already properly established as the very best sprinter in girls’s biking after her dominant years at Group DSM, however since becoming a member of SD Worx has developed tremendously as a Classics rider and total extra versatile star of the game.
The flying Dutchwoman was not the winningest rider of 2023 after attaining the feat back-to-back within the two seasons prior along with her former crew. She really had the fourth-most victories behind fellow SD Worx pair Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky and her former teammate and key lead-out rider Charlotte Kool.
This does not paint the complete image of Wiebes’ class all through the season, nevertheless, along with her palmares displaying simply how typically she was runner-up or on the rostrum of races she wouldn’t have been down as a favorite for previously.
Typically she was the second-best rider within the seemingly inevitable SD Worx 1-2 finishes all year long, behind World Champion Kopecky. The pair completed as the highest two at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Danilith Nokere Koerse, stage 1 of the Tour de France Femmes and total on the Simac Women Tour.
“I actually appreciated the switch [to SD Worx]. I gained lower than the yr earlier than, however I already knew that once I signed my contract with the crew,” mentioned Wiebes to WielerFlits after the Superprestige cyclocross spherical in Niel this previous weekend. “For me, it was particularly necessary that I developed myself as a rider, and I discover that I’ve taken an enormous step ahead in that space.”
Wiebes was most spectacular at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, proper there with the punchier, lighter riders on the Muur and Bosberg earlier than profitable the dash behind Kopecky. And he or she confirmed it was no fluke along with her means to experience the Cauberg with Kopecky and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) as she and the World Champion cruised to a different 1-2 total on the Simac Women Tour.
Even with this addition to her arsenal of skills, Wiebes didn’t lose her near-unmatchable top-end dash velocity, solely going through an actual problem in flat finishes from former teammate Kool, who made a giant step in 2023. She nonetheless gained the one flat dash on the Tour de France Femmes on stage 3 earlier than she needed to abandon on account of sickness, so why change something?
“I would like to proceed engaged on what I’ve achieved this yr,” mentioned Wiebes. “Proceed to take steps by way of particulars and assert myself increasingly more in more durable races.
“That is why I used to be really very proud of my second place within the Simac Women Tour, on high of the Cauberg. I used to be in a position to observe Lotte [Kopecky] and Kasia [Niewiadoma] there. I had by no means achieved something like that earlier than, and that’s at the moment extra necessary to me than getting extra victories.”
This pursuit of the hardest races maybe comes with a much bigger purpose in thoughts, the Paris Olympic Video games street race. Wiebes is eyeing a possible crack at a medal, however the residence begin of the Tour de France Femmes within the Netherlands coming so near the Olympics will probably play a task in her choice.
“The Olympic Video games are going to be necessary. This week we’re going to Paris with the KNWU to discover the street race, so I’ll have a greater thought of how that fits my fashion,” mentioned Wiebes.
“The Tour de France Femmes, with the Grand Départ within the Netherlands, can even be an necessary race. Fortuitously, these two targets are comparatively shut to one another, which makes it possible to mix them.”