EF Education-TIBCO-SVB 2023 Roster Preview

2022 Season Summary

It was a solid start to the 2022 season with a few top-10s dotted here and there during the classics period. As April turned into May though, that’s when EF Education-TIBCO-SVB began to start getting results. 2nd for Kista Doebel-Hickok at home in the Tour of the Gila was matched by Veronica Ewers in the Festival Elsy Jacobs. That sparked a very successful set of results in Spain. Ewers took a win at Navarra Elite Classics and wasn’t far off winning 3 of the Spanish one-day races in May. Back home, Emma Langley won the Joe Martin Stage Race just before Krista Doebel-Hickok took the team’s best WWT result of the year with 4th in Vuelta a Burgos.

She did even better at CIC-Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées, comprehensively winning the GC and 2 of the stages. A late-season flurry of results saw Veronica Ewers twice finish 2nd behind Elisa Longo Borghini in Italy before closing the year out with 5th at Tour du Romandie. The team’s results are certainly solid, with plenty of top-10s at big races and wins in other races too. Their weakness is possibly a tendency to go missing in the tougher spring classics, missing out on results. They should be ok to stay in the WWT at the end of 2023 but they’re right on the cusp after their 2022 season.

2022 World Ranking: 11th
2022 WorldTour Ranking: 12th

Riders to Watch in 2023

Veronica Ewers has emerged as the team’s star and was rewarded with a new contract as a result in 2022. The American combination of Ewers and Krista Doebel-Hickok is a useful one, particularly on hilly one-day races. Both will also have a role to play in the general classifications of the biggest stage races. Alison Jackson gives the team something new, an attacking option who can sprint in small groups. She can also take on the road captain role and be a ‘does everything’ Swiss army knife rider for the team. It’s a similar profile for Letizitia Borghesi who definitely moved up in 2022. She’s going to be good in many tough one-day races this year.

Georgia Williams also offers something new to the team. She’s a strong time trialist but is a burgeoning GC rider as well. There is plenty of hype about Zoe Backstedt, she already has some elite-level top-10s from her time as a stagiaire in the last few months of 2022.

Transfer Thoughts

EF Education-TIBCO-SVB hasn’t done too much recruitment this off-season but they’re definitely a bit stronger thanks to the move they have made. Zoe Backstedt joins full-time after racing for the team since August as a stagiaire. So we’ve already had a glimpse at what she can do on the team with top-10s at CIC-Tour Féminin Pyrénées. It’s going to be very interesting to see what she can do with more racing experience in the pros. The return of Alison Jackson to the team after forays at Team DSM and Liv Racing is a great addition. Her attacking style will see her take the odd victory but she’s vitally important to the team as a regular points scorer this season.

Georgia Williams presents an interesting option. She’s hinted that more GC opportunities are wanted. She’s shown some strong climbing and she can time trial too so there should be some short-stage races that really suit her going forward. 2023 will be her first season away from BikeExchange since 2016 when Williams rode for BePink. I would love to see the Kiwi to get some opportunities to really show what she can do.