Sunday’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift opening stage win confirmed Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) as the fastest sprinter of the women’s peloton as she powered herself into the first green and yellow jerseys.
The Dutchwoman's victory on the Champs Élysées was her 16th sprint win of the year, thanks in part to the team's superior lead-out and part pure power.
But the rumor mill regarding this rider was running wild all day. There was, of course, the stunt with the podium baby, when the 24-year-old super sprinter posed with a baby in her arms for the podium celebrations — a baby that wasn't hers.
And then news started breaking that she might be leaving Team DSM for the powerhouse SD Worx team, despite still being under contract.
What's more, she's allegedly about to become the best paid rider in the bunch.
Today, Team DSM's press officer Emily Brammeier confirmed the rumors to Cycling Weekly, stating that Wiebes' contract featured a clause allowing her to entertain offers from other teams if they were more lucrative than her current contract.
However, UCI rules dictate that a change of teams between two calendar years can not be announced until August 1. SD Worx therefore declined to comment for the time being but an official announcement will surely follow come August 1st.
"Of course we can’t confirm the new team, but what we can say is that Lorena is a good rider with a phenomenal sprint. We would have loved to continue working with her, but she got an offer she didn't want to pass up and we respect that," Brammeier told Cycling Weekly.
"We are proud of everything our Women’s Program has achieved with Lorena and look forward to finishing the year off with plenty more successes."
This is not the first time Wiebes has left a team before her contract has expired. After her breakout season in 2019, Parkhotel Valkenburg secured her services until the end of 2021, but after a legal wrangle, they released the sprint star to DSM halfway through 2020.
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