Cédrine Kerbaol boosts SD Worx-Protime’s climbing core with two-year deal at the Dutch squad

Just hours after another rider was announced for leaving their squad, SD Worx-Protime revealed the arrival of French climber Cédrine Kerbaol, who will join at the beginning of the 2027 season.

The 25-year-old French climber, who spent two years at EF Education-Oatly, signed a two-year deal with the Dutch squad in the hope she will boost their chances of winning hilly and mountainous races, the team describing her as the "reinforcement it was looking for".

While Kerbaol is a talented climber, she is also a talented all-rounder, having a good kick and solid form in time trials. She is also an opportunistic and aggressive racer, something SD Worx believe matches their racing ethos.

"Cédrine is truly a rider after our own hearts, someone who dares to race and break up races," Sporting Director Danny Stam said in a team press release.

"In recent years, she has proven that she has reached the very top of women’s cycling. This year, she finished sixth overall in the Tour de France Femmes and second in the Tour de Suisse. In virtually every stage race she enters, she finishes in the top 10. At 25 years of age, we’re also convinced she can still take her cycling to the next level."

Kerbaol broke into the public consciousness while riding for Ceratizit WNT, where she descended to win stage 6 of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, the first Frenchwoman to win a stage of the modern race. Her solo victory in A Coruña during this year’s Vuelta España Femenina, ahead of future teammate Lotte Kopecky, was the perfect example of her aggressive style, attacking late on when the rest of the bunch seemed resigned to a bunch sprint.

"This feels like the logical next step in my career,” Kerbaol said in the press release. "Every team I’ve been part of throughout my career has increasingly matched my ever-growing ambitions. At Team SD Worx-Protime, I’ve found a squad of incredibly strong riders.

"What immediately appealed to me was Danny Stam’s genuine interest in how I want to approach things myself and how the team can support me in this. I felt heard straight away.

"Before I made my decision, I spoke to Anna van der Breggen. She’s already had a brilliant career and knows exactly how to compete strongly in the general classification. Her experience as a GC rider convinced me that this is the right environment for me to develop further as a stage racer.

"I’m actually still at the very start of my career. I’ll be able to learn a lot from her and from the team to become a better stage racer."

Analysis

Owen Rogers

Kerbaol is a brilliant addition to the SD Worx roster, which seems to have suffered somewhat of an exodus in recent weeks.

With the departure of Marta Lach, Julia Kopecký, Blanka Vas and Femke Markus, add in the retirement of influential road captain Lee Cecchini, and the team are certainly weakened, and while Kerbaol’s arrival will not replace any of those riders, it is a positive step.

Though SD Worx have been winning regularly, with the prolific Lorena Wiebes scoring most regularly, the team have been crying out for more climbing talent to ensure they can effectively compete in the three weeks races.

Their ability in that regard suffered a huge blow at the end of 2024 when Demi Vollering, Marlen Reusser and Niamh Fisher-Black left en masse. Last year’s recruitment of Nienke Vinke and Valentina Cavallar barely rectified their departure, both riders need further development.

Kerbaol, on the other hand, might have plenty of room for improvement, but she is already a proven winner and should prove an asset to the team, taking pressure from Van der Bergen’s shoulders.

Stam is a past master of balancing riders’ conflicting ambitions, but if SD Worx are to ensure they can reach the level they are clearly aiming for, they will need more firepower among their domestiques.

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