Diversifying their GC options beyond Kopecky and Van der Breggen – Analysing SD Worx-Protime's quality over quantity rider signings for 2026

For several weeks after the transfer market officially opened, SD Worx-Protime didn't make a noise. No signings, no departures, no drama. For a minute, I wondered if they were even going to sign anyone new, such is their commitment to not just signing riders for the sake of it.

But, eventually, at the end of November, SD Worx did get going with the signings, and what they may be lacking in quantity or speed, the signings they made us wait for certainly bring the quality. They have signed just two new riders for 2026 – fewer than most other WorldTour teams – but they're making it count.

Those two riders are up-and-coming climbers Valentina Cavallar and Nienke Vinke, whilst most of their roster is filled by strong riders they've retained from this season. Only three riders are departing the team at the end of this year.

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Consistently ranked the best team in the world for most of the last decade, SD Worx-Protime were knocked off the top of the UCI rankings this year, bettered by FDJ-Suez. That isn't to say they had a bad year, but they didn't quite hit the mark in terms of GC racing, where there are a lot of points to be gained, so it's no surprise to see that their recruitment has centred around climbing.

Let's get into a closer analysis of the team's transfer activity and roster building for 2026.

Maintaining the core

More so than recruiting new stars, SD Worx's main focus in 2025 and going into 2026 (and even before that) has been about maintaining their core of riders. They've extended deals with Lotte Kopecky, Lorena Wiebes and Mischa Bredewold, with Marie Schreiber and Femke Gerritse locked in until 2028, too.

When you have a core group as strong as that, you don't need to go on a wild recruiting spree, and SD Worx clearly didn't. In many ways, that's never been their style, always taking time over signings and maintaining very high standards – you very rarely see them taking a punt on an unproven rider.

On the theme of rider retention, the team are only losing three riders at the end of this season, and none of them currently have other homes. Chantal van den Broek-Blaak already retired mid-year, and December will see contracts expire for Geerike Scheurs, Laura Stigger and Skylar Schneider. Scheurs and Stigger are primarily off-road riders supported by Specialized, and both raced sparingly on the road this season

To be able to retain so many riders – literally no one has been tempted away to another team – is fairly rare in cycling, and a testament to the professional, functioning set-up at SD Worx, where a lot of riders must feel that they're treated fairly and given opportunities. This maybe wasn't true two years ago, when some of their biggest stars, including Demi Vollering and Niamh Fisher-Black, opted to seek pastures new, but something must be working now.

Even if they had signed no one new, a team boasting Kopecky, Wiebes and Bredewold would do well in any season, but given Kopecky's move back away from GC racing after a brief foray into that, the team is fairly Classics-focused, and 2025 left them wanting more on the climbing front.

A focus on climbing

In their first year without Demi Vollering (and Marlen Reusser and Niamh Fisher-Black), SD Worx-Protime were always going to feel something of a gap when it came to GC racing. There was a hope that Anna van der Breggen might quickly return to her high level in stage races, or that Kopecky might build upon the promise she showed at the Tour in 2023.

Unfortunately, neither of those things quite materialised, and whilst Van der Breggen still has time to improve, it became clear quite quickly that SD Worx needed to reinforce their climbing contingent and focus on riders who could deliver good Grand Tour performances.

The two riders they've recruited to that end may not be the biggest, headline names, but they are truly canny signings that reflect a team looking for real potential and talent rather than flash-in-the-pan results.

Valentina Cavallar may be a fairly new name to many readers, but she shouldn't be. The 24-year-old Austrian is a former Olympic rower and only started cycling at the UCI level partway through 2024, but immediately showed her talent, coming second at the Tour des Pyrénées, and then seriously impressing at the Tour de France Femmes, finishing seventh on Alpe d'Huez and 22nd overall in her first-ever Grand Tour.

So clear was her talent that Arkéa-B&B Hotels signed her up until the end of 2027, but with that team's unfortunate demise this year, the opportunity opened up for another team to snag her signature, and SD Worx succeeded.

Still only young and relatively inexperienced, Cavallar has a lot of room to grow, and the high-performance set-up at SD Worx seems like the ideal place to really tap into her abilities. It doesn't seem over the top to suggest she could be aiming at top 10s and top fives in stage races this season, plus Grand Tour stage wins.

The team's other new recruit, Nienke Vinke, tells a pretty similar story: a growing talent who was locked in with another team, but the opportunity for a move opened up, and SD Worx acted swiftly. Vinke has more headline results than Cavallar, finishing on the podium of the Tour Down Under last year and then claiming the white jersey at the Tour this year.

Vinke had extended with Picnic PostNL last year, but had a clause in her contract that left the door open for a move at the end of 2025, and she took it, after SD Worx had reportedly been interested in her for some time – unsurprising that the Dutch team wanted to sign a young Dutch talent.

Given her results in stage races so far – including ninth at the Vuelta Femenina this year – Vinke is already a top 10 GC contender, so 2026 will be about how far she can step up. A Grand Tour top five should certainly be her goal.

Of course, the ambitions of Cavallar and Vinke will have to be balanced against those of Van der Breggen and other riders, but it helps spread the pressure out at SD Worx-Protime, and means they should be able to target the top 10 in all three Grand Tours, something they didn't have the horsepower to do in 2025.

The verdict

Quality over quantity really is the key to SD Worx-Protime's recruitment strategy this year. I respect the fact that they haven't rushed into filling the gaps left by Vollering, Reusser and Fisher-Black, and have prioritised real, long-term talent over a quick return in terms of results.

Given that various high-profile moves have dominated the transfer discourse in 2024 and 2025, this is a pretty assured approach, and one that could really pay dividends for the Dutch team. They have bided their time and been rewarded with not one but two riders who could be really serious GC contenders in the years to come.

Retaining Kopecky and Wiebes, they're sure to remain a dominant force in the cobbled Classics and sprints, whilst Mischa Bredewold is a great contender for the hillier Classics, so even without doing any recruitment, SD Worx were already very well-placed for 2026. But with two well-considered signings, they've rounded their team out again, and if things go to plan, they should be fighting for that top spot on the UCI rankings again next year.