After five consecutive years of SD Worx-Protime dominance, FDJ-Suez have officially risen to the summit of women’s cycling, finishing 2025 as the top-ranked UCI Women’s WorldTeam for the first time in their history.
The French squad, strengthened by the arrival of Demi Vollering, accumulated 12,490.51 points, ending SD Worx-Protime’s stranglehold on the rankings. The Dutch team finished second with 11,115.13 points, whilst UAE Team ADQ, powered by new leader Elisa Longo Borghini, rounded out the podium after a string of strong performances across the season.
For FDJ-Suez, this milestone is the result of years of sustained investment and careful team-building. Founded in 2006, the team has quietly developed into one of the most professional outfits in the peloton. Their budget has grown from around €400,000 before 2020 to more than €4 million in 2025, and that commitment has now paid off. The 2025 campaign was their most complete yet, built around Vollering’s dominance but also supported by the all-round strength of Elise Chabbey, Juliette Labous, and Ally Wollaston, all of whom joined the team this season. Each contributed more than 1,500 UCI points, underlining how much depth and balance FDJ-Suez now possess.
The team marked their achievement in a typically understated fashion, posting a simple message online: “We did it. No.1 UCI WorldTour Team 💙.”
Vollering reigns supreme in individual rankings
On an individual level, 2025 was the year Demi Vollering underlined her position as the best rider in the world. She ended the season on top of the Women’s WorldTour individual rankings with 4,642.57 points, ahead of Lorena Wiebes on 4,326 and Marlen Reusser on 3,397.14. Vollering’s season was a masterclass in consistency, collecting wins at Strade Bianche, Itzulia Women, and the Vuelta España Femenina, before sealing her year with victory at the European Championships road race. She also finished second in Tre Valli Varesine, proving once again her ability to perform across a wide range of terrains and formats.
Behind her, Wiebes continued to dominate the sprinting scene, racking up an astonishing 25 victories during the year. Few could match her top-end speed, and she once again proved invaluable to SD Worx-Protime in both stage races and one-day events. Reusser, now riding for Movistar, showed her trademark strength and consistency, finishing second overall at both the Vuelta and Giro while winning the World and European Championship time trials. Her ability to perform at the highest level in both stage races and against the clock ensured a place among the year’s elite.
This trio’s dominance reflected the gradual broadening of the sport’s competitive landscape. Vollering’s move to FDJ-Suez from SD Worx-Protime at the end of 2024 broke up the Dutch team’s near-monopoly of the last few years, while Reusser’s transfer to Movistar diversified the pool of top contenders further.
A glance back at previous seasons’ highlights just how much the sport has evolved in the past decade. In 2016, American Megan Guarnier won the inaugural WorldTour title for Boels-Dolmans, leading the way ahead of Canada’s Leah Kirchmann and Britain’s Lizzie Deignan. That marked the beginning of a long Dutch era, with riders like Anna van der Breggen, Annemiek van Vleuten, and Marianne Vos setting the standard for years to come. Van der Breggen’s 2017 triumph for Boels-Dolmans symbolised the start of a dynasty, while Van Vleuten’s victories in 2018 and 2021 cemented her legacy as one of the greatest stage racers in the sport’s history.
In 2019, Vos returned to the top, showcasing her enduring brilliance, while a young Lorena Wiebes appeared on the podium for the first time, signalling the rise of a new generation. The disrupted 2020 season saw Deignan win for Trek–Segafredo, before Van Vleuten reclaimed the title in 2021 and 2022 with Movistar. Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky then shared the spotlight for SD Worx in 2023 and 2024, dominating a period that seemed to belong entirely to their team.
Now, Vollering’s 2025 triumph with FDJ-Suez represents a new phase for the sport. For the first time in almost a decade, the world’s number one rider does not ride for a Dutch team, and her success marks the arrival of a more competitive, international peloton where multiple squads can challenge for supremacy.
The end of an era for SD Worx-Protime
For SD Worx-Protime, the end of their reign does not mark decline so much as the close of an extraordinary chapter. The team, which first rose to prominence under the Boels-Dolmans name, defined the modern era of women’s cycling. With icons such as Van der Breggen, Chantal van den Broek-Blaak, Kopecky, Wiebes, and Reusser, they became synonymous with control and success, often dominating both stage races and Classics alike. Even in 2025, they were formidable, with Wiebes winning more races than any other rider in the peloton. But the gap has narrowed, and their once-unchallenged grip on the rankings has finally been broken.
Vollering’s departure last winter was symbolic of that shift. Having been the face of SD Worx’s dominance, her move to FDJ-Suez helped transfer power to a new generation of challengers. It was perhaps the clearest sign yet that the balance within women’s cycling is changing.
The shifting face of the WorldTour
The history of the Women’s WorldTour team rankings reads like a timeline of the sport’s professionalisation. Teams have evolved, merged, and rebranded as investment and structure have grown. Wiggle High5 and Rabo-Liv, both fixtures of the top three in 2016 and 2017, are long gone. Team Sunweb, runners-up in 2017 and 2019, became Team DSM and are now known as Team Picnic PostNL, while Mitchelton-Scott, second in 2018, became Liv AlUla Jayco. Trek-Segafredo, which topped the rankings in 2020, now races as Lidl-Trek. Amidst this constant change, SD Worx-Protime – in all its guises – had been the one constant at the top. Until now.
Promotion and stability in the WorldTour
The 2025 season also marked the conclusion of the current promotion and licensing cycle for the Women’s WorldTour. Unlike previous years, there will be no relegation ahead of 2026. The closure of Ceratizit-WNT and the decision by Laboral Kutxa to remain a ProTeam rather than apply for a WorldTour licence mean that the number of applications did not exceed the available 15 slots.
As a result, Roland Le Dévoluy, who finished close to the bottom of the standings, will keep their place by the narrowest of margins. Meanwhile, EF Education-Oatly have earned promotion after finishing 11th overall, completing a rapid rise through the ranks and becoming the latest team to join the top tier. The outcome provides a rare sense of stability for the Women’s WorldTour, ensuring all 15 teams will line up next season without the uncertainty that has often followed previous licensing rounds.
A new order emerges
FDJ-Suez’s triumph marks a turning point for women’s cycling. After a decade defined by Dutch dominance, a French team has reached the summit, built on structure, vision, and significant investment. Vollering’s individual brilliance may have been the decisive factor, but the collective strength around her was what made this breakthrough possible.
With riders like Labous, Chabbey and Wollaston also thriving, FDJ-Suez now have the depth and resources to remain competitive across every race on the calendar. For the first time in years, the balance of power at the top of women’s cycling feels genuinely open. The 2025 season may have brought an end to one era, but it has also heralded the beginning of another – one defined by parity, ambition, and the promise of new rivalries to come.
