Dear readership, I must apologise. While the best time to recap the Wheel Talk Draft would have been directly after it, I got too excited with other things like the Wheel Talk Newsletter and articles about risk. However, now it is Holy Week so it’s the next best time to see who the gang chose, and how they’re faring. It’s just like Selection Sunday, but better.
Setting the stage
Old enemies reunite, fresh blood enters the fray, and former victors clearly bear that burden of a 2024 win. Heavy is the crown. Who will rise to the top in 2025? With a women’s peloton performing the most elaborate game of team-switching musical chairs ever seen in the transfer period, an already tough job of picking performers just got made even tougher.
I was not privy to the draft of 2024, as I am firmly the nervous neopro in the category of ‘fresh blood.' However, I hear that it was hotly contested. My countrywoman Matilda (Tilds) Raynolds came out on top in 2024, with the double trouble of Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma. Pretty prophetic of you, Tilds, to get 1-2 at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift! After some crisp slaps on the back, Tilds basked in her victory by 316 points with team Collective Cartel over Loren Rowney’s Super Lekker Pro Potato Women's Cycling Team. You can check out the full list of results from 2024 at a live dashboard made by our very own Discord regular, Elizabeth C. Matt de Neef’s Amateur Pro Cycling rounded out the podium.
The rules of the game
Now we have dissected the form, let’s get to the main event. Like last year, the draft was done snake-style. The draft MC, Abby Mickey, ran the wheel of fortune to see who would pick first. She was the first to note her error and having to spin the wheel twice as she forgot to add in an all-important person: herself.
Joining Abby on the wheel were several former or active pros: myself (Georgie Howe), Loren Rowney, Matilda Raynolds and Gracie Elvin. Last but not least, and a wry voice in cycling that is feared by all in this group: Matilda (Tilda) Price. I must say, when I discovered the addition of the latter, I quaked in my Birkenstocks.
*Update: said Birkenstocks have since been destroyed by a rambunctious nine-month old golden retriever. RIP.
Will we have what it takes? As someone who bet on 21 horses in the 24-horse Melbourne Cup race and walked away without a cent, I don’t like my chances.
You can play along below or listen to our Wheel Talk special episode. I would like to note that Loren was out with an illness, so (and goodness knows why) she chose me as her proxy. Godspeed.
We are all competitive beasts. Even if we are competing for bragging rights, I would like to know there would be something on the line. The prize thus far has been defined as just that: bragging rights. Other options I would like to see considered:
- Meat tray
- Personalised socks
- A mix tape
Alrighty, let’s see what we’re up against. Time to dive into the team names:
Abby: I am going with my usual line of thinking, last year I was Death by a Thousand Attacks, this year I will be The Tortured Breakaway Department. I was quite proud of myself when I thought of that.
Gracie: I probably should have put more thought into this, I thought I would give away my first pick as well, it’s going to be Lamborghini p/b Tony's Chocolonely. Purely because a rider I’d like to see with that team name would be really good and I just love that chocolate. It’s my favourite chocolate. And I used to be obsessed with it over in Europe and now it’s in Australia and I buy it at an exorbitant price here.
Tilda: Well, I’ve secured two really big sponsors and one doesn’t actually make a road bike but I think we will just ignore that. So I’d like to introduce you to Team Santa Cruz-Shimano. Shimano is now making my bike, I have a neutral service bike.
Georgie: So I have gone very modern with my sponsors this year, and I’ve gone for Specialized Wyn Collective Racing. Specialized being the bike, Wyn being Serena William’s makeup brand and Monarch Collective being a female-specific investment fund.
Tilds: I’m not going as funny, but I will stick to my collective that I had last year and I’m going to go with the Suffragettes Collective. I just had a conversation actually with Liz Hepple who was the female representative at the Tour de France Femmes in 1988. She was one of the originals.
With the first pick, Super Lekker selects ...
Now to the real play - the picks! Loren drew the lucky pick #1, but with her being out fighting the stomach flu, and we gave her a rider who no one would think would perform _ Lotte Claes.
Just kidding! We are nice, so we gave her another Belgian and another Lotte. Lotte Kopecky. Side note: hindsight is 20:20, but Lotte Claes would’ve been a great pick for Loren given Kopecky’s limited racing schedule …
Abby then threw a spanner in the works of Gracie’s naming rights, sweeping Elisa Longo Borghini out from under her. Gracie hit back soon after, claiming Demi Vollering for her own. Not a bad consolation prize.
Tilda was feeling like she needed a fast finisher, so opted to back Lorena Wiebes for her first pick. I went with Kasia Niewiadoma, and the pick was met with scrutiny by Tilds, predicting a lukewarm year of results for the Polish climber. I would never tell Tilds this, but after the first three months of the year, I really hope she’s not right.
Tilds rounded out that round with two picks and she used them well, adding Liane Lippert and Anna Van der Breggen to her stable. Feeling the burn of criticism, I decided to go for an Italian with panache: Silva Persico. Évita Muzic was then snapped up by Tilda, Elisa Balsamo by Gracie, Marianne Vos by Abby and Loren came back online to request Cecile Uttrup-Ludwig.
And thus the draft progressed. Notable names were snapped up quickly, with Chloe Dygert going to Gracie, Thalita De Jong coming into my team and the young supremo Cat Ferguson joining the Suffragettes Collective.
'She's got a high motor and a lot of upside, Phil'
There were some picks that, at the time, proved questionable but now ingenious. Loren nabbed Monica Trinca-Colonel, the new Italian signing to Liv AlUla Jayco who has already shown her prowess in Valenciana, Strade Bianche and most recently at Trofeo Alfredo Binda. Juliette Labous, I am certain, will prove a crown in my stable after her showing so far this season. I can only hope she gets let off the leash. We all questioned if Pauline Ferrand-Prévot would come into form this season, so when Tilds picked her, eyebrows were raised. However we must now eat our words after solid showings at both Strade and Trofeo Alfredo Binda. Perhaps there is a GC campaign in there somewhere.
Elsewhere, Marta Lach, Pauliena Rooijakkers and Puck Pieterse can all call themselves members of Santa Cruz-Shimano. Pieterse for sure will be comfortable on a Santa Cruz mountain bike. Hopefully not in that Shimano blue…
Abby bolstered her ranks with Ingvild Gåskjenn, Pfeffier Georgi and Chiara Consonni. Loren took away more riders including Silke Smulders, Clara Copponi and Kim Le Court. Gracie is liking her chances with Mischa Bredewald and Elise Chabbey. While I’m quite content with Brodie Chapman winning some TTs this year, Lucinda Brand coming off a cross season to remember and Antonia Niedermaier coming into her own. Tilds rounds out her team with Kristen Faulkner, Marlen Reusser and Neve Bradbury.
Each team now consists of 10 riders, and you can check out live updates from another epic live leaderboard by Elizabeth C.
Undrafted snubs we're going to regret
Who missed out? The peloton has a swathe of riders, but spots on these teams are coveted. We then discussed the big names that missed out.
Australians seemed to be the country that missed out the most with Alex Manly, Amanda Spratt, Sarah Roy and Ruby Roseman-Gannon left sitting on the bench. Ashleigh Moolmon-Pasio still has yet to show herself, so understandably the team was hesitant to jump on her as their pick. Gracie decided not to opt for her 2024 pick in Dominika Włodarczyk, and could be found wanting after the Polish rider's showing in the spring so far.
Emma Norsgaard was another name discussed in the context of Lidl-Trek's 2025 lineup, with Abby pointing out that they have very similar riders on their roster so deciding who will ride for the result will be tough. Strong and definitive leadership will be required. So far they've leant on Elisa Balsamo as their lead rider, lacking that knockout punch in Elisa Longo Borghini, now gone to UAE Team ADQ.
The gang then discussed the signing of Marta Carvalli to Team Picnic-PostNL. Will this be the move and environment where the Italian can finally crack back into the results sheet? Time will tell.
Kim Le Court and Justine Ghekiere are new names in the draft of 2025 after their breakout years in 2024. Sport is so up and down, I wonder what names will show themselves in 2025 to get into the squads for next year.
The mid-season trade will be happening just before the Grand Tours start. Looking at where I'm sitting on the leaderboard, I might need more than one rider to swap ... Let me know your thoughts on my strategy, I need all the help I can get.
Did we do a good job with this story?
