There were 109 riders on the start line of this year’s Itzulia Women, all different people with different objectives. There were 20 different teams, all wanting to get something out of the WorldTour race, all with plans in place for a part of the three-day stage race.
And yet, for the third year running, the results make it look like 19 of those teams might as well not have bothered. There have been 12 opportunities to win across Itzulia Women’s short history – nine stages, and three overall titles – and they have all been won by SD Worx-Protime.
Not only that, but six of those stages and two of those titles have been won by Demi Vollering, who did what she always does in the Basque Country on Sunday, winning once more.
It is an incredible feat, even if it is, in reality, just three years. The data set might be small, but it also couldn’t be more conclusive.
“To win every stage til now, three years in a row, that’s incredible actually, three times is history I think,” Vollering said. “We can be very proud of this. You never think that you can do something like this, but to do it again, to win all the stages here, that’s incredible.
“It says something about how strong a team we are, and also how much we like these kinds of races, to be always very active and take it in our own hands. I’m really proud to finish it off here.”
Vollering’s performance was one thing, but her younger teammate, Mischa Bredewold, also took two stage wins in two different situations, belying her 23 years. The first came in what was, effectively, a bunch sprint, while the second came after she bridged across to a late break in the day, comfortably out-powering her two companions.
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(Image credit: Getty Images)
On paper, the performance should worry the team’s rivals. It comes after a dominant race from Vollering at the Vuelta Femenina, and the team looks well back on track after a mixed spring Classics campaign, during which time their Dutch leader didn’t clinch a win.
It speaks of the best women’s team being back on the perch, as they were last year with their staggering 62 wins. With more stage races looming, including the Giro d’Italia Women and the Tour de France Femmes, and with SD Worx back in their groove, more wins will surely come.
However, all is not over for SD Worx’s rivals, like Canyon-SRAM, Lidl-Trek and FDJ-Suez. The squads can use the lessons they learned from the Classics to challenge them at stage races as well, to put them off their rhythm. If SD Worx are left to ride their own race, as they were so often in 2023, and at Itzulia, then it feels like wins might only go one way. If other teams take the fight to the Dutch squad, then races open up.
The fissure opened up by the announcement that Vollering is to leave SD Worx has not been totally repaired, even if things seem rosy for now. It should be noted that the Dutchwoman has only won this year in the absence of her world champion teammate, Lotte Kopecky; it might just be that there is only room for one in the 2024 iteration.
Vollering and Kopecky will be separated at the Giro and the Tour, with the former going to France and the latter to Italy, but this does also mean that SD Worx will not be wholly at 100%. All is not over for the other teams of the Women’s WorldTour, far from it, even if their adventures in the Basque Country made it seem like it, for the third year in a row.
