G’day (yep, we’re still in Australia, at least mentally), and thank you for opening this week’s Wheel Talk Newsletter. Tour Down Under delivered three spectacular days of racing, and Matt de Neef was on the ground to cover it all. Coming up this weekend, we’ve got a new UCI race before the peloton jumps on a plane to fly to Melbourne for the next WWT event.
A note: Pretty soon, I will be on maternity leave, and during this time, the newsletter will be taking a four-week break. Never fear! Matt has some fantastic written pieces coming, so there will still be plenty of women’s cycling content to read on Escape Collective, and you never know, you might just see a new byline pop up while I’m away. Loren and Gracie are taking charge of the podcast to continue delivering ear content, and I, for one, can’t wait to be a Wheel Talk listener for a change!
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ICYMI
As I mentioned, Matt was on the ground in Adelaide cooking up some stories, with more to come this week from the women’s peloton and the men’s TDU. Here’s a roundup of his written work, in case you missed it.
For starters; sometimes the doomed breakaway isn’t so doomed after all. This is the story of Daniek Hangeveld’s solo move that ended in the Dutchwoman’s first WorldTour win, after a rough 2024 season.
From the second stage: Noemi Rüegg snatched a surprise (to some) victory from local favourites and top climbers to take the lead of the Tour Down Under atop Willunga.
And finally, a full write-up on Rüegg’s overall victory and Chloe Dygert’s final stage victory.
Meanwhile in Europe …
While the peloton was lighting up Adelaide, a lot of WorldTeams on the European side of the globe were busy at work with their teams. January team camps are in full swing, with some teams opting for warm climates and some already riding through thin air at altitude in Tenerife.
Some UAE Team ADQ riders are in Benidorm, Spain, while others (Elisa Longo Borghini and Brodie Chapman, among others) are getting some early-season altitude miles in the legs.
Lidl-Trek sent their women to Denia, Spain for some sunny kms and testing.
Liv AlUla Jayco have their non-Down Under team training in Valenciana where they’re showing off the coolest kit of 2025.
Canyon-SRAM Zondacrypto are living the dream riding out of the Syncrosfera Hotel in Alicante. Honestly, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig makes the German team’s camp look like a holiday, complete with a lot of laughter and a healthy dose of cake.
The season is fast approaching, and riders are honing in on their form. Being able to do so with your teammates around you is a special feeling, and these early season camps can make a team’s Classics campaign if done properly.
Racing Continues …
… at the Schwalbe Women’s Classic and then at Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
I already dropped the details of the new UCI event, the Schwalbe Women’s Classic, taking place on the weekend in the last newsletter (I say “new”; it’s been on the Aussie national calendar for two years – won by Ally Wollaston in 2023 and Nienke Veenhoven last year – but it’s “new” to the UCI calendar (as a 1.Pro event), adding more points to the trip Down Under for teams interested in that sort of thing). But in case I’m not online next week to preview the Great Ocean Road Race, I’m going to do that now.
Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race is the first WorldTour one-day event of the year. Normally, it is raced by the same peloton as the Tour Down Under, with the odd substitution here and there. It is also a hard race to predict because of both the course and the time of year. Just like at TDU, it’s unclear who will be on form and who will be saving their bullets for later in the season.
You’d think a peak through the TDU results would give some indication of who might come good at Cadels, but that’s not always the case. For one, a one-day event is raced very differently from a stage race, and for two, the race can always be snagged by a surprise winner, like Rosita Reijnhout (Visma-Lease a Bike) last year, when it was called the Deakin University Women’s Road Race.
The Course
The 145.7 km race (some reports say 142 km but 145.7 km is the distance on the race web site) starts and finishes in Geelong as in the past. The route has been altered this year, but the general idea of the race is pretty much the same: big long loop out to the coast, challenging circuit in town to finish it off. There is more climbing in the midsection – albeit gradual, steady climbing – but the final, which includes two laps of a circuit around Geelong, remains the key point to watch.
The women will race the larger loop that touches the coast in the reverse direction from last year. The primary result of this change is that the stretch of road that can be sometimes impacted by winds is at the start of the race instead of near the end.
The circuit is where the moves are normally made, but the change of course could mean the peloton feels the Challambra Climb moreso than prior years, when the race was a long, flat drag to the base of the ascent and then a big fight for the final 30 km. It also means the peloton might be more reduced by the base of Challambra than they were when Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig “laid the hammer down” last year.
Since the organizers added a second lap of Challambra in 2023 the race has gone to a late move. Last year Reijnhout took advantage of the course to slip away with Dominika Wlodarczyk and Uttrup, thanks in large part to the Dane’s furious attacks. This year could see either another successfully timed late-race attack take the victory or potentially a strong selection of riders sprinting against each other.
The Contenders
I just said that TDU doesn’t accurately represent who will be going good at Cadels but it’s hard to overlook a few top contenders when it comes to a result in Geelong.
Starting with the one and only Noemi Rüegg (EF-Oatly-Cannondale), whose form on the second stage of TDU proved her to be one of the top riders to watch. If a select group goes, she will surely be in it, and based on her win at Trofeo Felanitx in Mallorca last year at the start of the season, she has a great kick on her if she comes to the line with some strong climbers.
But sometimes, when a rider gets such a marquee result, that doesn’t always translate to a great performance in the next race. Rüegg will return to Europe with the best result of her career so far in her pocket, which might mean that she doesn’t have as good a day at Cadels.
Her form at the Australian National Championships puts Amber Pate (Liv AlUla Jayco) on the map for a solid result in Geelong. The Aussie criterium champ is climbing well enough that if she can make it over the climbs at the end, she’s in the running to win the race outright. Her Liv AlUla Jayco teammate Silke Smulders is also clearly riding well and will not have a hard time staying in contact with the front of the race on Chllambra.
Ruth Edwards (Human Powered Health) has a history of good results at Cadels. She finished second behind Annemiek van Vleuten from a group of five in 2017, before the race was WorldTour, ninth in 2019 when Arlenis Sierra won the race solo, eighth in 2020 just after winning TDU, and then fourth last year (her first year back in the peloton after retiring in 2021). She had decent form at TDU, finishing fourth on the final stage and ninth overall, so a podium (or win) at Cadels is definitely not out of the question.
One rider who will come out of TDU disappointed with her results will be Alexandra Manly (AG Insurance-Soudal). She was seventh on the final stage but she will have wanted a better start to the year with her new team. She has the ability to stick to a group over Challambra, depending on who exactly is throwing attacks, and if she can make it over with a select group she’ll be one of the best sprinters there. Getting over that climb will be the big test.
Last year’s runner-up finisher Dominika Wlodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ) was fourth overall at the TDU. She was extremely disappointed in her second place at Cadels last year, at least at the finish line. She probably cheered up a bit after the fact, given it was her first block of WorldTour racing, and she was the one who took the WorldTour leader’s jersey out of Australia. Can she repeat her impressive performance from last year? It’s possible. She’s one year older, one year wiser, after all.
Speaking of disappointment at TDU, FDJ-Suez walked away from the stage race with very little to show. In her debut ride for the French team, Elise Chabbey finished seventh on stage 2, sixth on stage 3 and fifth overall – some very consistent results. She’s said outright that her goal is to win more in 2025, and that could start in Geelong with a well-timed attack and a sustained effort to stay away.
Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) won the race back in its second edition in 2016 when it had a mere UCI 1.2 designation. Since then, she has twice finished third, in 2019 and 2020, and once finished second – in 2023 behind Loes Adegeest. She looked pretty good at Nationals and again at TDU, and for sure she is one who will be more concerned with good results to come in the summer and tampering her form for now, but she has all the tools to be able to win the race should things go her way on the day.
Finally, there’s the obvious favourite – Chloe Dygert. The American notched her second WorldTour victory, in the final stage at the TDU, since joining Canyon-SRAM Zondacrypto back in 2021. We already knew she is a rider who the peloton shouldn’t give an inch to, being ITT World Champion and all, but she’s also proven to have a good enough kick to win from a reduced group. We know she can get up the climbs in Cadels; we know if she’s in a group and she’s not feeling confident in her sprint she can try for a solo move; and we know if she gets any distance at all she’ll be rolling into the finish alone.
Wheel Talk Podcast
This week Matt took control of the podcast along with Gracie Elvin and Georgie Howe to talk Tour Down Under while on the ground in Adelaide. The three break down Noemi Rüegg’s huge win(s), Canyon-SRAM Zondacrypto’s final stage tactics, and more.
Let’s Discuss
Is 2025 the year of Chloe Dygert?
The American started her 2025 season strong with a TDU win, but the big question is: what else can she accomplish this year?
The possibilities seem nearly endless, capping out at only a Grand Tour General Classification (for now). This will be her first full – hopefully injury-free – road season with the team. She signed with them for the 2021 season but ended her 2020 campaign with a horrendous crash in the World Championships time trial, which left her with a serious leg injury. She’s spent years coming back from that crash, with various other injuries and illnesses cropping up along the journey.
Over her first four years with the German team, she only raced a total of 39 days in Canyon-SRAM Zondacrypto colours (not including National Championships). In 2021 she was fully focused on the Tokyo Olympic Games (including her key role in the Team Pursuit squad) and only raced the USA ITT National Championships before the ITT and road race at the Games. In 2022 her lone road start for the team was at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The 2023 season was her first foray into WorldTour racing and she quickly picked up the team’s first WorldTour win in years at the RideLondon Classique and two podium finishes on stages of the Giro Donne as well as another rainbow jersey in the time trial.
From the beginning of 2024, her focus was once again on the Olympics, but this time, once the Games wrapped, she raced the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, followed by Classic Lorient Agglomération (GP de Plouay), where she finished second, and then the Tour de Romandie. She ended the season with the time trial at the Simac Ladies Tour but was unable to finish the stage race due to a broken nose. The two seasons combined were enough for Canyon-SRAM Zondacrypto to extend her contract through 2026. She also snuck in a second place in the Worlds road race in 2024; you know, casual.
Her potential on the road was clear already in 2015 when she won both junior events at the World Championships, but up until this year a combination of personal goals (chiefly track events at the Olympics) and injury that have kept Dygert away from a 100% commitment to the WorldTour. Now, with the next Olympics four years away (an Olympics she will no doubt turn her attention towards in 2027, being in LA) Dygert can dedicate herself fully to the road. The prospect is enough to make other riders quake in their cleats.
Dygert’s raw power is one thing. What makes her truly terrifying is how much she can suffer and how hard she is on herself. After her stage win at the TDU, Dygert said that even when she wins, she is always looking for ways to improve, pointing to her 2019 ITT World Championship as an example. She won on the Yorkshire course by over a minute and a half ahead of Anna van der Breggen.
“I’m never satisfied, even when I win. I figure out how I can be better. I think the best example I can give you is in the Yorkshire World Championships when I won the time trial by a minute and a half,” Dygert said after Sunday’s race. “There are still three times in that race that I messed something up. I play it back in my head. I still remember that course like it’s on the back of my hand. I’m always striving to be better, the best.”
So what can she accomplish in 2025? For starters: winning a Classic. With so few days on the road, you’d think the American would struggle in the bunch, but her power means she is one of the rare riders who can get themselves out of tricky situations with their legs. A victory at Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift is within reach, but something like Omloop Het Niewusblad, Gent-Wevelgem, or even the debut women’s Milan-San Remo are all fair game.
“Going into the spring, it’s only going to get better and better,” Dygert said after winning at the TDU. “I won’t be playing catch-up, so I won’t be risking injury because I don’t need to push the limits. Now, I’m right where everybody else is, at the same percentage level.”
“It’s just safer for me physically, that I’m not going to be hurting myself by trying to make up for lost time.”
Dygert is only going to get stronger and smarter as she spends more time in the peloton. She adds a whole new element to Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto’s team, from the Classics and any potential victories she can accumulate to domestique roles at the Tour for Kasia Niewiadoma. The sky is the limit for the American. It’s entirely possible this is only the beginning of the year of Dygert.
A picture worth a couple of words
First racing pics of Niamh Fisher-Black in Lidl-Trek colors, with a little extra red on the leg just to add some drama.
Between Spratty (Amanda Spratt), Fisher-Black, and Gaia Realini – all under 1.6 meters / 5’4″ tall – Lidl-Trek wouldn’t make up the ideal basketball team.
Taylor Swift corner
I will probably be on leave when the Grammys happen, so I might as well mention them now.
The Grammy Awards, aka “Music’s Biggest Night”, are set to take place on February 2nd and Taylor Swift is nominated for a handful of awards. The Tortured Poets Department is nominated for Album of the Year, an award she has won three times including in 2024 for Midnights. The album is also up for Best Pop Vocal Album (Midnights also won this in 2024). “Fortnight ft. Post Malone” is up for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Music Video. Swift is also nominated for being featured on Gracie Abrams’ song “Us.”
If Swift should win Album of the Year (which is a tall ask, there are some phenomenal albums fighting for the award this year, including Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter) it will be her fourth time winning one of the top awards of the night. She first won for Fearless in 2010, then for 1989 in 2016 (it also won Best Pop Vocal Album), then Folklore in 2021. She is the first and only artist to win Album of the Year four times and if she wins again in February she will, again, make history.
Personally, I am torn. I would love to see Beyonce to win this one. Cowboy Carter is a beautiful album, and she has never won Album of the Year (even though, at this point, she should have). Sabrina Carpenter is also nominated with Short n’ Sweet, which is a fantastic album. Of course, Charli xcx’s Brat is nominated, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft, and André 3000’s New Blue Sun. Two really exciting and bold nominations are Djesse Vol. 4 (shoutout to Matt de Neef) by Jacob Collier and The Rise and Fall of the Midwest Princess by Chappell Roan. Looking at the lineup is like looking at the start list for Flanders. So much can happen, and more than one person vying for the title deserves it.
Until next time!
Whenever that is! Thanks so much for reading.
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