'We win because we are a team' - How California bikepacking fueled SD Worx

There has been lots of talk this Spring about 'Samen Winnen' - the 'Winning Together' slogan of Jumbo-Visma - and how it compares to the 'Vincere Insieme' of the old Mapei team and the current 'Wolfpack' branding at QuickStep. However, the flag flying highest in professional cycling right now is surely the 'Flow with the Go' of SD Worx. 

That motto might seem essentially meaningless in and of itself, but it stands for a wider philosophy, honed in part by a bikepacking trip in California, that has seen the Dutch team dominate the Classics so far this Spring.

It's hardly new, given the team enjoyed similar success and similar harmony back in the Boels Dolman days, but this year the team spirit appears stronger than ever. 

"We're flying high," team director and former pro Lars Boom told Cyclingnews after Demi Vollering won Wednesday's Dwars door Vlaanderen to take the team's Classics tally to six so far this Spring.

"This group of girls is working particularly well together. There is a great vibe in the hotel. We're having fun, and that's what cycling is all about."

Vollering herself insisted the atmosphere in the team camp is better than ever. The Dutchwoman is a relative newcomer, joining in 2021 and becoming one of the world's top riders, but sees improvement on an already-successful 2022. 

"We've grown a lot as a team - again," Vollering said. "This year, you can feel the spirit in the team is super, super good. We are really willing to give it our all for everybody."

Like Jumbo-Visma's men's squad are doing now, and as QuickStep and Mapei did so often, SD Worx are employing a multi-leader strategy for the Classics, playing the numbers game to devastating tactical effect.

At Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Lotte Kopecky won solo as Lorena Wiebes mopped up from the group behind, a scenario that repeated itself at Nokere Koerse, with another 1-2 sandwiched in between at Strade Bianche, this time featuring Vollering and Kopecky. 

The main Flemish Classics period has continued the theme, with Marlen Reusser taking Gent-Wevelgem and Vollering Dwars door Vlaanderen - both in solo moves built on the presence of teammates in the groups behind. 

"We are a team, and we win races because we are a team," Boom said.

"You saw that today [at Dwars]; Demi attacks, and Marlen is straight away in second wheel helping her [by disrupting the chase]. That's why we win. That's why Marlen wins Gent-Wevelgem and why Lotte won Flanders last year. We are a team."

Egos, hierarchy, and harmony

Like night follows day, any surplus of stars will come with its own question marks over egos, hierarchy, and harmony.

At Strade Bianche, Vollering ended up sprinting against Kopecky, expressing surprise that her teammate had opened the taps instead of sitting up for an arm-in-arm celebration. Some found it refreshing that there was no gift or choreography, while others used it as fuel for the narrative of an internal rivalry. Meanwhile, in a Belgium typically expectant of its home stars, there are subtle suggestions that Kopecky is somehow 'stuck' in the crowded house.

"Now, in Belgium, they're looking for all kinds of things," Boom said, dismissing any hint of controversy.

Vollering backed this up in her press conference with an impassioned response to a Kopecky-loaded question about internal tension, which ended up as something of a paean to the team's philosophy. 

"No, no, no, for sure not," she said. "This is really nice for Lotte also. If I or Marlen or whoever else is already in front, then she can do the same as I did, and the other way around. That makes us strong as a team. 

"In our team, it doesn't matter who wins as long as our team wins. This spirit really lives in our team. Everybody is really standing behind this. If you do something for one of the team, you know it's coming back to you one day. We don't have bad feelings in the team or feel like we have competition between each other."

Team building

But where does this team spirit come from? In a way, it predates either Vollering or Boom's arrival at the team, given the way the likes of Anna van der Breggen, Lizzie Deignan, and Chantal Van den Broek-Blaak used to combine several years ago. 

However, it needs to be continually nurtured as new faces come through the revolving door, and Vollering and Boom both identified the team's winter camps as key bonding experiences.

First up was a trip to California on November, funded by US bike supplier Specialized, where they all went on a bikepacking adventure, and then at the proper training camps in Spain, where they all shared a house together. 

"Our trip to California played a big part, bikepacking with each other and being so close with each other. Since then, we have this nice team spirit the whole time," Vollering said. 

"We've had some other camps together, and sometimes we were a bit like, 'maybe this is a bit too much,' but it's good because we know each other so well now. We are really playing the game well."

Boom added: "It all starts with the first camp, this year in America with some camping, some cooking for each other. Then three training camps in the big house in Spain where they stayed together, made food together, helped each other, and played games together. There you don't go back to the hotel room after dinner without seeing each other all evening. The fundamentals are built there, I think."

It all seems to be bearing fruit, although the final judgement will come after the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Boom insisted there's no feeling that they are 'unbeatable' but failed to see how things could be much better right now. 

Asked about those comparisons with Jumbo-Visma, Mapei, and QuickStep, he said with a grin: "This is Team SD Worx."