Something old, and something new
The men’s peloton is relatively static regarding transfers between 2021 and 2022, especially at the top end. Of the top 25 riders in the UCI’s official ranking, only two are moving teams into the 2022 season - João Almeida, from Deceuninck-Quick Step to UAE Emirates, and Giacomo Nizzolo, whose move to Israel Start-Up nation has been precipitated by the demise of his 2021 outfit Qhubeka-NextHash.
However, there is considerably more flux and a lot more growth on the women’s side. Four of the top 14 riders alone are changing outfits, and while the men’s sport looks set for a period of domination by a sextet of riders who are head and shoulders above their rivals - Tadej Pogacar, Primož Roglic, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe and Egan Bernal - there is the feeling that a change of generations is underway in women’s cycling. Seven-time Flèche Wallonne champion and former world champion Anna van der Breggen is retiring, while two of the other dominant figures in the sport, Annemiek van Vleuten and Marianne Vos, are 39 and 34 respectively.
The headline move of the 20212022 transfer season for women is Elisa Balsamo joining TrekSegafredo from the much smaller Valcar-Travel & Service team. The new world champion has been a consistent performer for a few years, but her results in 2021 elevated her to the highest level. She was in the top 10 at Trofeo Binda, Gent-Wevelgem and De Panne, then won the World Championships ahead of Marianne Vos. It’s significant that her results until now, with the exception of her Worlds win, were taken from the position of being in a smaller team. At Trek, she joins an established roster of stars who have proven that they are stronger than the sum of their parts - there seems to be good cohesion between Lizzie Deignan, Elisa Longo Borghini, Chloe Hosking and Lucinda Brand, and if Balsamo fits in well, the team will maintain its position in the top two in the world, if not threaten SD Worx for the number-one slot. They still lack a rider who can win a mountainous stage race like the Giro Femminile, but in the classics, the combination of Deignan, Longo Borghini and Balsamo will be formidable.
For their part, SD Worx are also bolstering their line-up, though Anna van der Breggen will be irreplaceable. They’ve signed Belgian national champion Lotte Kopecky, who was in the top 10 of a whole series of spring classics as well as fourth in the Olympic road race. She’s got potential to win flatter classics and races with cobbles, while Demi Vollering continues to lead in the hillier classics and stage races. SD Worx have also acquired Marlen Reusser, who is emerging as one of the best time triallists in the world.
The positive news is that the number of top-level teams is increasing. Though SD Worx and Trek-Segafredo have the experience and clout as established successful teams to make hires like Kopecky and Balsamo, Cofidis are starting a women’s team and EF Education First have combined with Tibco-SVB. These two outfits have snapped up quality riders - Clara Koppenburg and Rachel Neylan have signed for the French team, while EF-Tibco can rely on Tibco’s many years of experience and an established team roster while also making new signings like British rider Lizzy Banks, who was second to Lizzie Deignan at the GP de Plouay in 2020.
The story of the last couple of seasons has been the extraordinary dominance of the Dutch trio of Vos, Van der Breggen and Van Vleuten; in
“I have never been a rider who has been chasing easy wins” Phi lippe Gilbert reflect son 20 years at the very top page 74
The positive news is that the number of top-level teams is increasing. Cofidis are starting a women’s team and EF Education First have combined with Tibco-SVB
2021, the balance of power was tipped a little as Demi Vollering achieved some big wins, including Liège, and Lizzie Deignan and Elisa Longo Borghini took big wins. And though SD Worx and Trek look safe in their positions as the top teams, Movistar will still score a lot of points through Annemiek van Vleuten, Jumbo-Visma will see Coryn Labecki join Marianne Vos and it will be interesting to see how Grace Brown, winner of De Panne and third in the Tour of Flanders, settles in at FDJNouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope.
With the best riders of the 2010s starting to lose their grip at the top of the sport, it looks like 2022 will continue to see a new generation, spearheaded by Vollering and Balsamo, taking over, and that can only be a good thing for the sport.