The Lifeplus Wahoo team has had a rollercoaster off-season and not for the first time. The team’s name sponsor Le Col had to pull back from its commitment, leaving a sizeable hole in the budget for the 2023 season. The team made its riders available with plenty of its foreign stars signing up for other teams that had more security at the time. The likes of Lizzie Holden went to UAE Team ADQ, Majo van ‘t Geloof and Jesse Vandenbulcke to Human Powered Health and Eva van Agt to Jumbo Visma. The team still has a core of riders though and will be potentially able to sneak a WWT spot for next season after their strong 2022 year.
“Forming partnerships with people that share the same core values is what Lifeplus is all about. I’m delighted to be working with Drops Cycling. Not only is cycling a true personal passion of mine, but the team’s purpose of inspiring millions more women to cycle and live healthier lives embodies female empowerment and wellbeing all in one.
All of us here at Lifeplus are looking forward to everything this new partnership brings in 2023 and beyond. Just like our colleagues and network, the cycling team represents international coverage and together we aim to stimulate those markets across Europe with our shared vision, through physical appearances at races and training camps, Lifeplus events and collaborative content creation. Joining forces to make a bigger impact.”
Malcolm Vincent, European managing director at Lifeplus
The team will announce its new riders soon. With the expected non-Continental level registration of Valcar, Lifeplus Wahoo should guarantee themselves invites to all of the Women’s WorldTour races in 2023. The UCI is expected to produce confirmation of that in the coming days. That sets up the team nicely with a way into the Tour de France Femmes but they will need to be calculating in how they race the rest of the season if they want to ensure a high number of points and a similar set of race invites for 2024.
“I am absolutely delighted to welcome Lifeplus on board as a title sponsor this year. It’s with this backing that we can put our plans into action and continue to develop the team with the values we share.
Additionally, we look forward to adopting the Lifeplus products into our riders’ training and racing to enable them to get the most out of themselves on and off the bike. Improving health should be taken with a holistic approach, and Lifeplus encapsulates this message with a variety of products we are excited to use this year.”
Tom Varney, Lifeplus Wahoo general manager
The connection between the team and Lifeplus was made through an introduction provided by Jamie Barlow at 258 Protege Sports MGT, the rider agency. They currently look after talents like Sarah Gigante, Ruby Roseman-Gannon, Niamh Fisher-Black and on the men’s size, the Ineos trio of Ethan Hayter, Leo Hayter and Joshua Tarling – amongst others.
“We are delighted to have secured a title naming partner in Lifeplus. Year on year, Drops have been a high achieving underdog team, punching above their weight and always finding and developing great talent. Teams like this need to be protected as they form a key part of riders’ progression to the World Tour. We look forward to helping Lifeplus activate the partnership throughout its duration with Tom & the Team.”
Jamie Barlow, Founder of 258 Protege Sports MGT
Riders currently confirmed on Lifeplus Wahoo
- Ella Harris
- Eluned King
- Flora Perkins
- April Tacey
- Babette van der Wolf
- Ella Wyllie
