Cofidis Women 2022 Roster Preview

2021 Season Summary

Cofidis Women are a completely brand new team for 2022 with no previous team taken over. They have no previous record. Rachel Neylan and Clara Koppenburg were the highest-ranked riders for their 2021 teams, Parkhotel Valkenburg and Rally Cycling respectively.

2021 World Ranking: N/A
2021 WorldTour Ranking: N/A

Star Riders

Gabrielle Pilote Fortin (3) — Gabrielle Pilote Fortin

Riders to Watch in 2022 + Transfer Thoughts

Clara Koppenburg will be the team’s biggest GC threat. After getting relatively few opportunities in 2020 and 2021, she’ll hopefully be back in the mix in 2022. She was one of the few riders to stay close to SD Worx and Annemiek van Vleuten on the final stage of the Vuelta a Burgos. She’s clearly the Cofidis Women team’s star signing. Rachel Neylan finished off 2021 with a strong set of results after moving to Parkhotel Valkenburg mid-season. She was a true all-rounder, getting results in GC, punchy climbs and flat races. With a team behind her, the veteran could have her most successful season yet.

Sandra Levenez wasn’t quite as successful in 2021 as she had been in 2020 but she’s a good climber. There were rumblings that Arkea weren’t entering her for races once it was clear she was going to leave the team. Presumably, at Cofidis, she’ll primarily be supporting Koppenburg in her GC climbing efforts. Olivia Onesti is a young rider with talent. She rides cyclocross and mountain bike, this will be her first major road season. It’d be great to see her do well in some of the French .2 level races and build from there.

Cédrine Kerbaol is an exciting young rider as well. She’s already finished 3rd in the French TT champs and won the U23 title outright. She’s shown aptitude in getting into the right breaks, with 7th at last year’s La Perigord and 4th at GP Beerens this year. Alana Castrique has made the jump to the French team to get more opportunities. She’s a rider almost in the same mould as compatriot Lotte Kopecky. She can sprint and the former U23 national TT champion is still good against the clock. Maybe a shot at a lower level stage race would see her best results.

Martina Alzini was one of the key parts of the Valcar lead-out train in 2021. When racing with Chiara Consonni she was often the last rider before the leader. That allowed her to still take some strong results in the Spring, including 5th at Vuelta CV when Consonni won. She will be fighting for the right to be the lead sprinter. It’s been a couple of years since Pernille Mathiesen was at her absolute best. She came through and was finishing high on short GC races by riding strong time trials. She didn’t get much chance to replicate that at Jumbo-Visma in 2021 so hopefully, she will at Cofidis Women.