2022 Season Summary
Team DSM’s 2022 season was definitely dominated by Lorena Wiebes. The Dutch superstar sprinter took 23 wins in 50 race days, whilst no other rider on the team took more than 2 wins. Team DSM’s identity is almost tied up in sprinting after devoting so much of their race tactics to the discipline. They have been like a well-oiled machine with the right rider to bring back breaks and a lead-out train that just can’t be beaten. One of the few times they were is because of a crash on a technical finish in the Women’s Tour that took out Charlotte Kool and Lorena Wiebes. In a proper head-to-head sprint, I think the only time Team DSM and Wiebes were beaten was at Exterioo Classic Brugge-De Panne when Elisa Balsamo took the win.
Away from sprinting, Juliette Labous and Liane Lippert took up the reins when the team needed a climbing GC threat. Labous took her first pair of Women’s WorldTour victories in 2022 – the GC at Vuelta a Burgos and a Giro d’Italia stage for good measure. She was also just off the podium with 4th at the Tour de France Femmes. Lippert had her own successes, 2nd at the Tour of Scandinavia and 4th at the Ceratizit Challenge and near misses in the classics with 3rd at Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold Race.
2022 World Ranking: 3rd
2022 WorldTour Ranking: 3rd
2023 Transfers In
- Eleonora Ciabocco
- Daniek Hengeveld
- Maeve Plouffe
- Eglantine Rayer
- Becky Storrie
- Anna van der Meiden
- Nienke Vinke
2023 Transfers Out
- Leah Kirchmann
- Liane Lippert
- Floortje Mackaij
- Lorena Wiebes
Star Riders
Riders to Watch in 2023
Juliette Labous is going to be the team’s undisputed leader when it comes to GC battles and climbing races in 2023. In the Van Vleuten era, it’s going to be tough to win some of those GCs but she continues to progress each year and we can look forward to seeing her add to the Vuelta a Burgos success in 2022. Charlotte Kool will have been champing at the bit to race in 2023. With Wiebes moved on, Kool is going to have a huge role being the final rider in a very successful sprint train. The addition of Maeve Plouffe is going to add some much-needed extra power to compete against their former star rider.
We haven’t seen too many riders do well immediately out of the juniors but Rayer is one of the stars of the 2022 class, even with Zoe Backstedt taking plenty of wins. Someone who has been there is Megan Jastrab, this year she should get similar chances to what Kool got last year. She will be part lead-out and part lead sprinter now and could go one better than her 2nd place at MerXem Classic last year.
Pfeiffer Georgi is now a solid road captain for the team, even at just 22 years old. She’s also a solid one-day racer with a pick of 9th at Paris Roubaix Femmes. With maybe a reduced focus on sprinting, we might see Georgi get some more attacking opportunities in 2023.
Transfer Thoughts
Team DSM seems to have signed as many of the best talents coming out of the juniors in the last couple of seasons. It means the average age of the team is super young compared to others, with Esmee Peperkamp the oldest rider on the team at 25 years old. The team lost a chunk of its biggest riders over the off-season and we should expect to see them at the front of races less in 2023. Eglantine Rayer is one of the best French talents since Juliette Labous and the Dutch pair of Anna van der Meiden and Nienke Vinke are well thought of too.
I’m excited to see how Aussie track rider Maeve Plouffe performs, she has the potential to be an amazing lead-out for Charlotte Kool this season. A sprint train that includes all 3 of Plouffe, Jastrab and Kool is going to be a fast one. With the cogs of the sprint train still there, Team DSM should be able to get in positions to see how they fare against Lorena Wiebes.
It’s also going to be interesting to see what role Becky Storrie has on the team. She’s had a fast rise up to the Women’s WorldTour level and was originally supposed to be on Lifeplus-Wahoo for 2023. She was one of a number of riders who found other teams during their sponsorship issues period. She should be an attacking option this year.
Photo Credit: El Toro Media
2023 Full Roster
- Francesca Barale
- Eleonora Ciabocco
- Léa Curinier
- Pfeiffer Georgi
- Daniek Hengeveld
- Megan Jastrab
- Franziska Koch
- Charlotte Kool
- Juliette Labous
- Esmee Peperkamp
- Maeve Plouffe
- Eglantine Rayer
- Becky Storrie
- Elise Uijen
- Anna van der Meiden
- Nienke Vinke
