The 9th edition of the women’s Setmana Ciclista (Pro) ended on Sunday with Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) winning the overall general classification (GC) 34” ahead of Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team) and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.
General Classification: Vollering secures the GC lead on stage 1
Points Classification: Elisa Balsamo wins two stages, the green jersey, places 4th on the GC
Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) won two stages (3+4) and the green jersey in the Points competition ahead of Liane Lippert (Movistar Team) and Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime), who also won stage 2.
Mountains Classification: Brodie Chapman’s 100km ride off the front in stage 2 nets her the polka-dot jersey
Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ) won the polka-dot Queen of the Mountains (QOM) jersey, followed by Elise Chabbey (FDJ-SUEZ) and Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ).
Youth Classification: 20-year-old Eleonora Ciabocco wins white jersey, takes 12th in GC, and 12th in Points classification
Twenty-year-old Eleonora Ciabocco (Team Picnic PostNL) took the white Youth jersey ahead of Paula Blasi (UAE Development Team) and Lore De Schepper (AG Insurance – Soudal Team).
How it happened
While fans may have hoped for more action between the main GC contenders, it was all over in stage 1 when Vollering attacked with 20km to go and finished 29” ahead of rivals Reusser and Van der Breggen, and 1:30” ahead of the reduced peloton of 26 riders. In the ensuing stages, teams seemed content to maintain the GC status quo and shift their focus to stage wins, podium placings, or the jersey classification (Points, Queen of the Mountain, Youth).
After the GC was established in stage 1, teams focused on stage wins, podium spots, and classification jerseys
With many riders having signed to new teams for 2025, it was clear a number of teams were using the race as a warmup and opportunity for riders to become familiar with one another and try out tactics. Last year’s winner, Marlen Reusser, expressed this sentiment before the start of stage 1.
“I think many things are possible. It’s not clear who’s going to win it. This race is an opportunity [for the team] to get know each other, to work well together, and to try what we can do together”.
Surprisingly, GC winner Vollering also expressed a similar attitude before the start of stage 1, saying she was focusing more on enjoying the racing with her new team rather than winning.
“It’s a nice opportunity [for the team] to get to know each other good on the bike. And to try to communicate well and to really feel how we are on the bike with each other, and where we are at this moment of the season.”
Other teams like Visma|Lease a Bike shared a similar approach, but had a long-range view of success, as sports director Robby Cobbaert explained afterwards.
“We set a goal beforehand and built our race plan around it. This result didn’t come easy; we had to fight hard for it. Finishing in the top ten [Femke de Vries -7th GC] gives us confidence heading into the bigger races. The team showed resilience, especially by chasing down a strong breakaway. We can only be satisfied with this performance.”
Win, Lose, Draw?
It’s only mid-February and still too early to say how riders will fare this season. Teams came to the Setmana Ciclista with goals that varied widely. And, as already noted, a number teams saw it more as an opportunity to test their fitness and strategy in the spring-like weather of Valencia, than focus on results. Still, there were those that came with loftier objectives and were looking for results. Some got them, some didn’t. For those teams that didn’t perform as hoped, there was probably a good amount of post-race reckoning and reflection that took place. Here’s a look at the WorldTour teams that fared the best at this year’s Setmana Ciclista.
FDJ-SUEZ put in the best performance, winning stage 1 and the GC with Vollering, the Team classification, and placing 2nd in the QOM classification with Elise Chabbey. Vollering’s team had the strength to force the pace in stage 1 on the Alto Barx climb (6km/5.6%) and launch Vollering with 20km to go. Only Van der Breggen was able to follow Vollering, hanging on for 1.5km before she had to sit up and let Vollering go. Marlen Reusser caught Van der Breggen and the two worked together to try and bring Vollering back, but it was a futile effort. With Van der Breggen cooked, Reusser ended up doing the majority of the work all the way to the finish. The reduced peloton arrived a minute and a half later and the GC was set for the remainder of the race.
FDJ-SUEZ was ranked 7th overall in the Women’s WorldTour (WWT) last year, but with Vollering now on the team, we should see them improve considerably this year. Vollering appears to have bonded well with her new team over the winter and was very pleased with the teamwork executed in stage 1.
“The girls really did a great job. You could see that everyone believed in the plan we had made one hundred percent and that everyone stuck to it. I am very happy with this team, I get a lot of confidence from everyone here. Confidence that I sometimes lost last year.”
As a GC team, FDJ-SUEZ team out-performed all other teams
SD Worx-Protime lost their star rider Demi Vollering to FDj-SUEZ at the end of last year, but gained the very experienced and talented Anna van der Breggen. After 3.5 years of retirement, the 34-year-old Van der Breggen made the surprise announcement last June that she was returning to professional cycling. As a rule, athletes coming out of retirement are rarely successful, but Van der Breggen appears as though she may turn out to be one of the few exceptions. While other riders, like last year’s Tour de France Femmes winner Kasia Niewiadoma (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto), struggled when Vollering attacked, Van der Breggen was immediately on her wheel and was able to hang on to Vollering up the final climb until the last kilometer.
It’s still early in the season and uncertain what Van der Breggen’s fitness will be like come this summer. But if her 3rd place on GC is any indication, we should see her on some Grand Tour podiums this year and winning some one-day events like La Flèche Wallonne, which she has won 7x.
“I didn’t really know what to expect. I didn’t think I would be able to keep up on a climb for so long. So that in itself is a good result. Especially when you see which riders were not with us and taking into account the amount of energy I wasted in the beginning to ride back in the peloton. I also didn’t expect it to explode like that at all today. So I’m definitely very happy with how it went. I definitely get a lot of confidence out of this.” – Anna van der Breggen, after finishing 3rd on stage 1.
SD Worx-Protime teammate Mischa Bredwold also put in a good performance, winning stage 2 and placing 3rd in the Points classification. The 24-year-old Bredewold has a good sprint and appears to be leaving behind some of her support duties and developing her talent in shorter stage races and one-day events.
“In the run-up to the sprint I decided to follow Balsamo, as she was the favorite for today. But I saw that she was being closed in. I had to switch quickly and choose another route. The wind was against me and so it was important to keep calm. These types of finishes suit me well. We discussed this with the team. If the stage would end in a sprint, I would take my chance.” – Mischa Bredewold, after winning stage 2
Movistar Team was ranked a lowly 10th overall last year in the WWT, but already looks to be off to a much better start this year with Reusser taking 2nd in the GC and Liane Lippert taking 2nd place in the Points classification and 5th in the GC. How well they can do this season may depend on whether the team can rally around these two riders and support them in races. Since Annemiek van Vleuten’s retirement at the end of 2023, the team has struggled to find a star rider to replace her. Reusser can win races that favor her raw power, but isn’t – at least not yet – a Grand Tour rider or one-day specialist.
Lidl-Trek came close to winning three stages with sprinter Elisa Balsamo, but had to settle for two when Balsamo got boxed in and finished 2nd behind Mischa Bredewold on stage 2. Still, it was a good take for Balsamo who also took the green Points jersey and secured 4th on the final GC.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Balsamo and her team and it took until stage 3 before they had worked out the early season kinks.
“We knew that it was going to be a hard stage again, like every stage here, so first of all we needed to survive the climbs. The girls did a really great job trying to close the gap with the breakaway. Then in the final, I was just trying to jump on the wheels. I was a bit scared to be stuck again like yesterday (stage 2) but I did a good sprint so I’m really happy.” – Balsamo after winning stage 3
Balsamo’s victories are a great boost for Lidl-Trek, which lost it’s star rider Elisa Longo Borghini to UAE Team-ADQ. While the signing of Anna Henderson (2nd – 2024 Olympic TT), super-climber Niamh Fisher-Black, and GC rider Riejanne Markus has helped fill the gap, it remains to be seen how, if at all, the team can make up for the loss of Longo Borghini, who was for 6 years the team’s designated GC leader. Developing and supporting GC riders requires a lot of talent, experience, and teamwork. Developing a Grand Tour winner is even more demanding. Focusing on one-day races might be the better option for Lidl-Trek in 2025.
CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto had mixed results. Two developmental team riders they brought to the race, Awen Roberts and Jule Märkl, didn’t finish, and their star rider Kasia Niewiadoma was never in the mix, finishing a lowly 18th on the GC. Luckily, Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka was there to save the team with her two podium places on stage 3 (3rd) and stage 4 (2nd), which netted her 4th place in the Points competition and her 6th place on GC. The 27-year-old Skalniak-Sójka is in her 3rd year with the team and seems to have risen to a new level, most notably with her sprinting. Whether she can take this fitness into the spring still remains to be seen.
The big surprise was the failure of Niewiadoma to respond to Vollering’s attack in the final part of the last climb. It was a decisive moment for anyone who hoped to be a GC contender, and it was only Van der Breggen, and Reusser later on, who could respond. While Niewiadoma looked like she was in good position behind Vollering as FDJ-SUEZ set the pace on the climb, it became clear when Vollering attacked that she was on her limit and wouldn’t be in the GC mix for this race. This race might not count much for anyone’s fitness come summer, but as a confidence builder it could matter a lot when the Tour de France Femmes rolls around and only seconds separate you from your rivals.
Another surprise was the muted performance of new teammate Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, who finished 25th in stage 1 and 24th on the final GC. Last year, injury and illness plagued her season and this past December she expressed a desire to get back to her previous level, like when she placed 2nd on the GC at this race in 2022. But we just didn’t see much of her during the race, and whether that means something or not we can’t really say in mid-February. But time is running out. The Spring Classics are less than 2 weeks away, and that will require some serious preparation for those who hope to perform well.
Final Results
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