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The impending demise of the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB squad is a big blow for the women’s cycling world, but it could have some wider implications beyond those for its staff and riders.
Run by Linda Jackson, the EF Education team has been a part of the peloton for close to two decades and has helped to springboard some of the top riders in the world. This year was the peak for the squad with Alison Jackson’s win at Paris-Roubaix, but sponsor trouble was already afoot with the Silicon Valley Bank — or SVB — collapsing in March, and TIBCO and EF would soon follow, ultimately bringing an end to the longstanding squad.
The team’s WorldTour license will go with it as the new EF Education-Cannondale women’s squad — which will be run by the same management as the men’s team — will operate under a Continental license for at least its first two years when Women’s WorldTour licenses will be up for grabs.
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With the likes of Veronica Ewers on its roster, getting invites shouldn’t be an issue and it will stand a good chance of promotion for 2026. However, it won’t be able to do this for 2024 and the departure of Jackson’s team leaves an extra spot open for next year in what has been a tight battle for the last available places in the top tier.
The news of the collapse of the current EF women’s team comes hot on the tail of the announcement in July that the Jayco-AlUla and Liv Racing TeqFind teams will merge. Both are backed by the bike manufacturer Liv/Giant and the merger will see Jayco-AlUla operate as the elite squad while Liv Racing TeqFind, likely to be renamed for next year, will be the development squad.
UCI rules for development teams mean that Liv Racing will not be able to operate under a WorldTour license and will be required to drop down to Continental level. This may be a moot point for the Dutch-registered squad, which has been around since 2005, as it has been gradually slipping down the rankings over the summer.
There are a lot of points still on offer in the latter part of this season and the team could see itself automatically relegated anyway should it continue to drop down the standings.
While the loss of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB is sad, particularly for those who work for it, the merger of Jayco-AlUla and Liv Racing TeqFind can be seen as a good thing as it expands the number of development teams in the women’s peloton — something that has been gradually growing over the past two years. Both of these pieces of news could also prove a lifeline for some of the current WorldTour teams that have been struggling to get above the safety line.
What will it mean for 2024?
Cedrine Kerbaol’s big summer has been good for Ceratizit-WNT (Photo: Jeff Pachoud/AFP via Getty Images)
For anyone who is new to all of this, let’s wind it back a bit.
Four years into the Women’s WorldTour, the teams face their first real promotion/relegation fight. Until now, any team that earns a top-tier license has not faced the risk of losing it, while this year was the first time that ranking points played a factor in selecting who got the remaining license as three teams applied for it.
For next year’s licenses, points will be the key deciding factor in who gets a place in the top 15 teams and who will have to wait it out until 2026. While the men’s promotion/relegation contest was calculated over three years’ worth of points, the women’s will only use the last two seasons of points to determine who gets in.
Though it is currently ranked 21st this season, the UAE Development team is still sitting in the top 10 of the two-year rankings thanks to its performance last year as Valcar-Travel & Service. However, like Liv Racing TeqFind, it will not be able to apply for a WorldTour license for 2024 so it can be discounted.
Existing WorldTour teams Human Powered Health, Uno-X, and Israel-Premier Tech Roland started the year on the back foot following disappointing 2022 seasons that saw them finish outside the top 15. Meanwhile, Continental setups Ceratizit-WNT and AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step looked to be in the hotseat for promotion after decent seasons last year and a strong start to 2023.
While all licenses are effectively up for grabs, the success of Ceratizit-WNT and AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step effectively put two on the table for 2024. The three WorldTour teams in trouble might be able to overhaul the two Continental squads vying for their places if they could put in a strong 2023 campaign, but it looked as though only one might make the cut come the end of the season.
A win by Daria Pikulik was good news for Human Powered Health (Photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
The freeing up of two Women’s WorldTour licenses is music to the ears of those who have been struggling to get the points needed, particularly the ailing Human Powered Health who has been distanced by Uno-X and Israel in recent months after a good start to the year.
Ceratizit-WNT and AG Insurance Soudal Quick-Step have kept up their good performances and look almost assured of promotion for 2024, but they’ll need to keep racing down to the wire as every point will count. Until now, that remaining WorldTour slot has been hotly contested by Uno-X and Israel with the team teams currently separated by less than 200 points.
Human Powered Health, whose men’s team looks set to fold at the end of the year, is around 900 points further behind and seemed almost certain to be demoted when the year was out. A recent win by Daria Pikulik, the first for the squad since May, has helped the cause but it was always going to be an uphill struggle.
With two additional licenses now up for grabs at the end of the year, it eases the pressure somewhat off the U.S. squad, but not completely.
Uno-X and Israel-Premier Tech Roland look as close to safe as they can be, though the same applies to them as the two Continental teams on course for promotion. However, Human Powered Health still has a few teams around it that have potentially been chucked into the WorldTour fight with this latest news.
Lifeplus-Wahoo currently holds the last safe spot in the rankings, though the Continental team told Velo earlier this year that it doesn’t intend to look for promotion for 2024. Nevertheless, this could change now that it finds itself in line to go up should it be able to find the funds.
Parkhotel Valkenburg is just below Human Powered Health in the two-year rankings, but it seems content to stay at Continental level and provide a valuable step up for younger riders. It’s possible that Cofidis poses the biggest threat in the next few months as it is just 500 points down on the American team.
The French squad didn’t look like a potential candidate for promotion through much of this year, but the widening of the net certainly puts it in the race for it now. While it hasn’t made any declaration regarding promotion yet the team did try to get into the top tier when it was first set up in 2022 and this could tempt them to try again.