#soudal

[tadejpogacar]

JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE Santos Tour Down Under 2024 - Stage 5 📸 by Tim de Waele/Getty Images

[outofcontextcycling]

[marcelskittels]

‹ Giro d'Italia 2024 ›

[womensworldtour]

Tour de France Femmes begins Monday!

After the long pause from the 2024 Paris Olympics (which has been pretty great, tbh) we finally begin the Tour de France Femmes on Monday, August 12!

We're looking at eight stages, with the riders rolling out from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where they will spend most of three days on 2.5 stages around Rotterdam. We say 2.5 stages, because Tuesday features two different stages, a short sprint stage and then an evening time trial. We don't know how we feel about these types of stages, but at least it will showcase different riders' talents.

Stage 4 on Wednesday will see the riders cross into Belgium and travel parts of the routes for Amstel Gold Race and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, including the famous hills like the Cauberg and the Cote de la Roche-aux-Faucons. And then finally, on Thursday, the Tour de France actually reaches France, and we will see increasingly mountainous stages that should determine the general classification, including finales on Le Grand-Bornand and the infamous Alp d'Huez.

As for GC, the odds-on favorite has to be defending TdFF champ Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime), who as we have said this year, is the best climber and stage-racer in the world right now. Cycling News has a great run-down for the other challengers, however, which we recommend.

It will be interesting to see how other strong teams like Canyon-SRAM and Lidl-Trek can put SD Worx under pressure. We've seen that in the Tour de Suisse and it can be done, but frankly, Vollering is so dominant right now that she might still win even if she's isolated on half the stages. She is just that good. Keep an eye on riders like Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM) or Evita Muzic (FDJ-Suez) as possible spoilers, and definitely contenders for the podium.

We honestly don't know how the fight for the points jersey will go, and we're excited to see how that plays out across the stages. Defending green jersey wearer Marianne Vos (Visma Lease-a-Bike) will want to repeat, but she'll have some serious competition from Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), who is still the fastest pure sprinter in the world and has shown she can get over the hills remarkably well. We'd love to see Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) back to winning ways after being off the bike due to injury.

We are less optimistic about the competition for the polka-dot jersey, and think it will likely be swept up by the GC winner. But that isn't always the case, like in the Giro this year, and we'd love to see some breakaway action and a non-GC rider try to hold onto that jersey.

We also expect several teams to hunt stages and keep several of the stages entertaining. EF-Oatly-Cannondale has been on a rampage this year, scooping up stages in the Vuelta Feminina and the Giro d'Italia Women, and they have the firepower to do it again with Alison Jackson, Kim Cadzow, Clara Emond, or Kristen Faulkner. Another team to watch is AG Insurance-Soudal, which has options in Tour Down Under champ Sarah Gigante, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, and Giro mountains classification winner Justine Ghekiere.

And finally, we expect to be surprised! We'd love to see a new talent announce herself on the biggest stage of the season, that's part of what we love about bike racing. This year's course is less likely to be an SD Worx show like last year (5 out of 8 stages), particularly with Lotte Kopecky not on the start list, so we are looking forward to some surprise moves and performances that will keep the racing interesting all the way to the top of Alp d'Huez!

[etapereine]

when the world needed him most, he vanished

[anguilliforme]

SOQ pivoting to the soudal t-rex sealant branding for the vuelta and immediately going dinomode is so funny

*wolfpack voice* but do YOU have a william junior lecerfosaurus

[daily-dutch]

Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Deceuninck & Fabio Jakobsen of The Netherlands and Soudal Quick-Step prior to the 92nd Baloise Belgium Tour 2023, Stage 4 a 172.6km stage from Durbuy to Durbuy on June 17, 2023 in Durbuy, Belgium. (Photos by Mark Van Hecke & David Stockman/Getty Images)

[a-sportygoldfish]

Remco did an amazing job 👏 wow. First tour and first stage win.

[radioclashh]

why is fake remco attacking marc right now STOPPPP

[wereallgonnadieintheend]

DINOSAUR QUICKSTEP???

Racing for them is every 4 year old dream 🦖🦖

[tadejpogacar]

Remco Evenepoel & Kasper Asgreen via iamspecialized Instagram story | 06.03.24

[toursderoues]

[marcelskittels]

REMCO EVENEPOEL & TADEJ POGAČAR ‹ Tour de France 2024 - Stage 3 › 📸 by Marco Alpozzi/Lapresse

[womensworldtour]

Volta a Catalunya Feminina just wrapped up with some great performances from both veteran riders and new talents.

Stage 1 went to a sprint, and Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance-Soudal) got the better of Marianne Vos (Visma Lease-a-Bike), despite Vos' later complaint of a line change.

Stage 2 reversed fortunes, as Vos soloed away to victory, showing she can win with speed and with strength. As a bonus, her teammate Riejanne Markus took second on the stage and moved into second place on GC.

Wollaston struck back on Stage 3 and won the sprint again over Vos, but that left Vos in clear lead in the General Classification, sharing the podium with teammate Markus. Katrine Aalerud of Uno-X Mobility held on to third.

[etapereine]

who had the best 2023 kit reveal and why is it soudal

[sportsallover]

Patrick Lefévère, about to retire from the cycling world