SD Worx-Protime openly goes all in on Kopecky, but Vollering dominates the hierarchy

This year, if you say SD Worx-Protime, you say Lotte Kopecky. She has already attained four victories, dons the rainbow jersey for easy recognition, dominates every race and, above all, has a huge new contract in the bag. The team went all in on Lotte and quietly started pushing the other leading lady towards the exit. Demi Vollering is quickly losing attention, even though she who was at the top of the pecking order in 2023. High time for a talk with 'the one-in-a-million woman', her coach Anna van der Breggen and team boss Danny Stam. "I want to remain the best and keep winning."

New contract aside, the fact that the focus in 2024 has so far mainly been on Kopecky is not so strange. The Belgian has already spent nine race days on the bike, whereas Vollering has completed only two. Kopecky won the UAE Tour, Strade Bianche and Nokere Koerse, while Vollering saved her legs for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Strade Bianche, in support of her teammate. She finished sixth and third and then - just like she did the past three winters - went to high altitude in Sierra Nevada, together with teammate Kata Blanka Vas. "I love the winter and the snow on top of the mountain, but also the nice weather on the bike, down the mountain," she recently wrote on Instagram.

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Vollering had busy winter after bizarrely successful 2023

With Dwars door Vlaanderen kicking off on Wednesday, Vollering's eagerly anticipated cycling season will now really go into full swing. It is shaping up to be a year packed with high-profile events including the Flemish and Ardennes classics, the Vuelta a España, the Tour de France, the Olympic Games and the World Championships. "It's pretty similar to last year's schedule. I'm skipping the Giro for a high-altitude training camp. If I didn't, I'd have to miss the Vuelta, but I'm committed to racing in Spain again. Competing in the Giro on top of that would just be too much," she told IDLProCycling.com when discussing her ambitions. Her limited racing in February was strategic, stemming from a preference for intensive training sessions during winter.

For Vollering, the winter months were filled with commitments following an exceptionally successful 2023, during which she celebrated seventeen victories, including all of the Ardennes classics, Strade Bianche and the Tour de France title. "After the World Championships in October, I took a vacation. By November, I was cycling again, experimenting with different bikes and incorporating running into my routine. I enjoyed myself, and December brought our first team camp, starting with a few days of skiing before moving on to training in Spain, along with photoshoots, interviews and similar activities. Back in the Netherlands, we even had a session to test the time trial bikes on the Alkmaar track. It was a very busy period, but I really enjoyed it."

Van der Breggen highlights that SD Worx-Protime also experienced a remarkable winter season. Dominating with 62 victories, the Dutch team was in top form. "We took time to appreciate the uniqueness of last year and the effort that went into it. We're aware of the challenges in replicating such a successful year, which isn't our primary goal. What's crucial is carrying forward the mindset that led to those achievements into 2024, even if it means winning less. As Stam puts it, surpassing last year's performance seems unlikely. Each year is a fresh start. In the winter, we dedicated ourselves to preparing for this season. We were fortunate last year, facing minimal setbacks, illnesses and injuries, which set the tone for the season from the get-go. But replicating such a year is improbable. It was truly one of a kind."

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Can Demi Vollering do even better in 2024?

After Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Strade Bianche, one might almost say, Vollering hasn't started the year off as well as a year ago. However, those results don't tell the story of her winter. During that time, the focus was on consolidating, being consistent and seeking progress. "I haven't done much differently, I am mainly expanding. I'm doing a bit more hours, my efforts are more intense, everything is a bit better. We need to find a good balance because last year was well balanced. I've grown on the bike, but also mentally. I had a good program and, for example, never wanted to go home when I was away. We want to do that again this year, although every season is different. You can never say in advance whether a plan will work out, but we try."

Van der Breggen nods. The former world champion is less interested in improving by one or two percent. She wants to perfectly balance Vollering. "It's going to be very busy, so we'll have to periodize and create blocks so that she can also recover in between. And we'll also listen closely to her body, even when the program says she should race somewhere. We're going to keep an eye on that. It's not the most important thing how many percentages are added to her performance. The lactate tests were all super good, but she especially needs to maintain confidence in herself and rest well between blocks. That will make a proportional difference because she had quite a gap to the rest last year. We try to have everything in order, and then we'll see what comes out."

"From 2022 to 2023, it's not like I took one big step, I just took small steps forward in everything," Vollering emphasizes. "Mentally, physically, tactically... That is why I won a lot, but the vibe in the team was also very good. We were never really focused on the results, we just had a really nice time together. We trusted each other, that was also very important for me. I felt the trust from the riders around me. I want to remain the best and keep winning, and I have a very good team around me that I can trust. I want to continue focusing on having fun with the girls, and then I hope everything else will follow. If you feel good and you get the balance right, then it's easier to win. Then you don't think about it, but you just have fun and it often leads to a good outcome."

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SD Worx-Protime and Vollering without Van Vleuten

No word on contracts, so whether Vollering will ride for SD Worx-Protime after 2024 will remain a question for a while. It does make the relationships between the riders more interesting, starting within the team. Vollering worked hard for Kopecky twice, in Omloop and Strade Bianche, but will that be reciprocated? "It's crucial in a team that you can trust each other," emphasizes Van der Breggen. "If that's no longer the case, girls might start doubting their own chances. Everyone needs to feel that what you can do, you can also show. That's sometimes difficult to deal with, but we're on top of that. You have to be happy when others have good things happening for them. The outcome you get is for yourself, but ultimately also for the team. Like the #wintogether of Visma | Lease a Bike, you know. As long as you view a result as a team performance, it's good."

Vollering prefers to look outside the team when it comes to competition, especially now that Annemiek van Vleuten has retired. "I'm sure rivalry is something good. You want to belong to the best and beat the best. That was a goal in 2023, but in 2024 I will have the role of Van Vleuten. Girls will want to beat me, and that will be different. I'll have to experience how that works and how it feels. If Annemiek hadn't been the best prior to 2023, but for example, Elisa Longo Borghini, then we would all have wanted to beat her. There's always one rider, or there are always two who are the women to beat."

"I'm growing, but so are others. The level is steadily increasing, and last season, for instance, Longo Borghini was very unlucky," Vollering analyzes her competitors for the upcoming races. "I will miss Annemiek. It will be different. But that transition will happen naturally. The new generation is ready. Younger girls already won in 2023. I'm happy about that." Van der Breggen also doesn't think that Van Vleuten's departure will pose a problem for her protégé. "If the competition remains fierce, you won't miss it. But at times when the spotlight is on you, then you might miss someone like Annemiek. Someone who races aggressively, that's a valuable addition. However, I believe that teams will rise in level, so this won't be an issue. It's up to other teams to close the gap to Demi and us. There could be riders who are capable of making that leap, or who are close to it. The competition won't settle for this. They'll make adjustments. We need to deal with that, with changes that require us to think ahead."

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Vollering dreams of balanced legacy

Everything seems under control when you listen to Vollering and Van der Breggen. But importantly, Vollering was at the top of the hierarchy after 2023. That has not changed in the first two months of 2024. "Demi has made tremendous strides in being a team leader, as well as in training intensity. Continuing this is the most important thing. Annemiek was still competing in 2023, but this season Vollering will always be the top favorite. Believing in yourself and staying calm are important. Staying true to yourself and working hard, and there will be times when you have to deal with not winning. Facing the pressure of potentially only being able to lose, rather than not being the outright favorite, introduces you to an entirely different mental game," says Van der Breggen.

Vollering seems ready for it. She starts her day with yoga, talks about enjoying cycling and, according to her coach, has surrounded herself with the right people. "I don't know if I'm better, that's something you can only tell in the first races. Things are moving in the right direction and progressing, just like the level within the team increases each year. I want to keep winning, but also build a legacy. I want to inspire children and women to cycle and enjoy it. Who are you? What makes you happy? That's the mental aspect of the story, a topic that's very important to me. The youth are struggling with this, and I hope to inspire people by setting goals and achieving them. Go outside and enjoy sports. That's always been very important to me, and it's a message I want to convey. People are staying indoors more and more, and that worries me."

"She is self-directed in what she needs," concludes Van der Breggen. Stam also makes no secret that Vollering will be the main contender in the stage races. "We don't have enough leading women for the grand tours yet to say: we can count on a different one in each tour and they can all pull in a victory. Our goal isn't to check off all the grand tours," he says. Kopecky might play a role, but according to the team, that is not happening yet. "I think if you look at everything Lotte achieves, she's capable of a lot. She will have to make choices at some point, but that will be difficult next year. The Olympics almost finish on the day the Tour starts. This year, we're busy with the puzzle pieces around the Olympics. But later, it's certainly possible she'll pursue a classification, and for example, Marlen Reusser could also be a formidable force in future tours."

For now, however, it's all about Demi Vollering.