We’re a week into offseason and there is almost more news to talk about this week than there has been since the Worlds! A handful of high-profile transfers (including the one we’ve all been waiting for) and the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift route reveal all in just a few days.
Wheel Talk
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On Monday the ongoing conversation about what kit Demi Vollering will be wearing in 2025 was finally answered. FDJ-Suez released a video in which Vollering seems to be playing the piano (I wouldn’t be surprised if she could, but “experts” think the video is staged for dramatic effect), with some inspirational talk of new beginnings followed by an exclusive interview with L’Equipe. In the interview, Vollering talks of dreaming and how the French team fits into her dreams of the future.
“The first meeting I had with Stephen [Delcourt] and the performance staff, I directly had a really good feeling,” Vollering said in the interview. “It was in March, during a training camp in Sierra Nevada. Later on, I met with some other teams and it was nice, good conversation. But here with this team, after the meeting, I couldn’t get my smile off my face.”
Vollering also spoke about her feelings following a difficult season and being excited about the start of a new journey with a new team. She revealed that she started training with the team’s performance staff already after she missed out on winning the Tour de France Femmes by only four seconds to Kasia Niewidaoma.
She calls FDJ-Suez a new chapter, and that is definitely true. Her four years with SD Worx-Protime have seen her go from a newbie to one of the absolute best, but Vollering admitted she is always finding small adjustments she can make to continue her growth as a rider.
Of course, her biggest target of 2025 will be the Tour, especially riding for a French team, the nine-day race will be the peak of her season regardless of any other goals she may have in the Spring and end of the season.
“Already to be in a French team at the start line of Tour de France… but imagine you’re winning the Tour de France in a French team, that’s going to be very, very special,” she said. “It means so much for French people, for my teammates and the partners backing the team. It is even more special when you share with all those people the feeling that maybe you can win.”
Vollering wasn’t the only top rider to finally announce her new chapter for next season. Her current teammate at SD Worx-Protime Marlen Reusser also announced her new deal with Movistar for three seasons. Reusser hasn’t had a great year, missing out on both the Olympics and her home World Championships due to lingering illness. It’s been known for some time that she too would be leaving the Dutch team, and I think we can all say that we hope to see her back to 100% next season.
Canyon-SRAM announced a whole slew of signings, the biggest of which (post Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig of course) is Chiara Consonni. The Italian sprinter has represented UAE Team ADQ and Valcar-Travel & Service before it for years, and a move to a completely new, very non-Italian, environment will be a fascinating one. She is a fantastic sprinter who could definitely rival Charlotte Kool and Elisa Balsamo in the coming years, maybe even Lorena Wiebes.
Racing Continues…
…in 85 days at Tour Down Under!
Wheel Talk Podcast
This offseason we are putting the group pods on pause and instead filling the weeks with some conversation episodes. Some to look forward to: Anna Henderson on her Olympic success and the resulting comedown, Geerike Schreurs on gravel and her SD Worx-Protime contract, and Georgia Howe on her time in professional cycling and what she’s doing next.
Tobin Heath (!!!) kicks off the conversation series this week. Matilda Price and I sat down with her to talk about her discovery of cycling and women’s sport as a whole. Tilda also wrote a beautiful piece about the discussion that I highly recommend reading.
Let’s Discuss
The 2025 Tour route!
On Tuesday the ASO announced the men’s and women’s Tour de France routes for 2025. The women’s race will be nine stages next year, making it the longest stage race on the women’s calendar (since both the Vuelta and the Giro reduced their races down to eight stages next year). The race will be from July 26th to August 3rd with the first couple of stages in Brittany.
Overall there are two sprinty stages, three super fun stages (aka hilly), three mountain stages, and one high mountain stage up the Col de Madeleine. A little something for everyone. Like in previous editions, the true GC race is reserved for the final stages, but this year they’ve thrown two hilly stages in to kick things off so the race will likely bring a whole host of new drama.
The race kicks off with a short 79 km stage from Vannes to Plumelec that includes four poppy-categorized climbs, the final of which is the finish itself. So the race will definitely not start with a bunch sprint. This final ascent of Côte de Cadoudal is 1.7 km in length and averages 6.2%. The first real fight for the yellow jersey will be a good one. The roads in Brittany are technical with a tacky surface that will make the first two stages extra challenging. The tarmac in Brittany is similar to the UK, safe but rolls slow.
Stage 2 from Brest to Quimper is also hilly, with four categorized climbs. The last one is close to the finish and there is an additional non-categorized ascent to finish the stage. Another not-a-sprint.
Stage 3 and 4 are the likely sprint stages, with some minor climbs but nothing that will impact the finale. For stages 5, 6 and 7 we’re back to the hills for some quality breakaway potential stages, with 5 being the longest stage of the race at 166 km.
Stage 5 is the least hilly of the three but has some good climbs packed into the backend of the race that will be more challenging after such a long day. Both 6 and 7 are quality hilly stages, both with climbs of 9-10 km long.
The eighth stage is the big one, with two minor climbs before the peloton climbs the 18.6 km long Col de la Madeleine. This will be the GC day of the race. While seconds and even a minute may be gained up to this point, the race will likely be decided by an all-out fight of the climbers on the penultimate stage.
After the Col de la Madeleine the race isn’t over, with one final stage remaining. The ninth stage has three categorized climbs, but the final ascent is still 29 km from the finish and only 5.9 km long. The final 19 km is a gradual climb uphill, but nothing insane. If the race is still close after stage 8 it’s possible riders could throw some madness at the final stage, but there’s not quite enough going on to make it a GC stage.
Overall the race favors a climber but maybe not a true climber. With no time trial this year and one massive mountain stage, someone like Lotte Kopecky who could gain time in the opening two stages and hold onto Vollering on the Col de la Madeleine would be a serious contender. There will be quite a few riders already plotting how they could win this race. It doesn’t have Vollering’s name all over it, with only one mountain stage, but it also doesn’t really lean towards Niewiadoma or someone like Elisa Longo Borghini either.
In summary: a stage for most types of riders with a pretty open general classification situation.
A picture worth a couple of words
The sixth stage of the Tour starts in a familiar place for the Femmes, which is saying something since it will only be the fourth edition of the race. Clermont-Ferrand hosted the first two stages of the Tour in 2023 and the riders will return for the start of the sixth stage this year.
Taylor Swift corner
Taylor brought Sabrina Carpenter on stage at the New Orleans leg of her Eras Tour show and the two had a blast singing some hits.
Until next time
That’s it from me this week! Thanks so much for reading.
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