Demi Vollering to lead FDJ-Suez against old team-mate turned rival Lotte Kopecky
New FDJ-Suez DS Lars Boom on his and Vollering's big move, managing competing GC leaders' ambitions, and Anna van der Breggen's return to the peloton
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After several years of SD Worx-Protime supremacy in the women’s peloton, 2024 saw other teams shore up their rosters and go toe-to-toe with the Netherlands-based team.
FDJ-Suez was one of them. In the most recent off-season they added super-talent and Tour de France Femmes 2023 champion Demi Vollering, formerly of SD Worx-Protime, and French GC contender Juliette Labous to their ranks, while the team have a third threat in another home-grown talent, Évita Muzic.
Friction between SD Worx-Protime riders regularly made headlines over the course of last season, with the team having to balance the interests of multiple star riders, most prominently Vollering and Lotte Kopecky.
Nobody knows that better than Lars Boom, who — like Vollering — made the switch from SD Worx-Protime to FDJ-Suez at the end of last year, this time as a sports director.
A former pro, Boom began his career as a DS at Liv Racing in 2021, before spending three years with SD Worx-Protime. He announced his move to the French team in October, switching with immediate effect, and will work alongside DS Nicolas Maire and directors of performance Lieselot Decroix and Flavien Soenen.
Boom told us he hadn’t spoken to Vollering about their prospective moves before the announcements were made, but the Dutchwoman’s impending exit had been an open secret for much of last season.