2024 marks the start of the second licensing cycle for UCI Women’s WorldTour teams (the first running from 2020 until 2023). A total of 15 licences have been allocated for this cycle, which runs for two seasons (2024/2025). In all 16 teams applied, with two Continental teams graduating to fully-fledged WorldTour teams: AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step and Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team. The Continental team to miss out were Spanish team Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi, with sporting criteria the deciding factor (they finished lower in the rankings than the other two teams). As well as sporting criteria, licences are also contingent on teams proving their commitment to meeting certain ethical, financial, administrative, organisational and sporting standards, including minimum salaries and benefits such as maternity leave.
TEAM SD WORX-PROTIME
Nationality Netherlands Established 2010 Manager Danny Stam Bike Specialized 2023 WT wins 40 2023 UCI ranking 1
2023 was an utterly dominant year for the Dutch team – 40 wins on the Women’s WorldTour was more than the teams ranked 2 to 7 combined. It wasn’t just the volume of wins, either, but the quality too. Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders, all three of the big Ardennes races (Amstel Gold, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège) all came before the big one, Tour de France Femmes. Hoover-upper-in-chief was Demi Vollering, who won 15 of the 40, including that first yellow jersey. Surpassing such a stellar tally will be difficult in 2024, but for a team so used to ending the
