With less than two weeks to go until the start of the Tour de France Femmes 2024, Ceratizit-WNT has revealed its selection. The German Women’s WorldTeam has chosen seven riders from seven different nationalities, though surprisingly, none are German. One of the notable inclusions is Mylène de Zoete from Naaldwijk, South Holland. The 25-year-old Dutch cyclist hails from an area that forms a triangle with Rotterdam and The Hague, the region where the opening stage will take place. This means De Zoete will be racing on roads she often uses for training.
Last year, De Zoete won the opening stage and finished second in a WorldTour race, the Tour of Chongming Island in China. She will be joined by well-known names like Alice Maria Arzuffi, Marta Lach, and Kathrin Schweinberger, who are also set to race in the Tour de France Femmes.
Targeting high placements
The team’s young French climber, Cédrine Kerbaol, aged 23, is aiming for a strong overall result. She finished 12th in the general classification last year, showing her potential in stage races. The inclusion of Kerbaol indicates the team’s ambition to secure a good position in the final standings.
Interestingly, the 24-year-old Italian sprinter Martina Fidanza is a notable omission from the squad. Fidanza recently won two stages at the prestigious Thüringen Ladies Tour (2.Pro) last month, making her absence from the team’s line-up quite unexpected.
Ceratizit-WNT is the first team to announce its squad for this year’s Tour de France Femmes. This early announcement sets the stage for the remaining teams to reveal their line-ups and strategies as the race approaches.
