Van der Breggen and van den Broeck-Blaak to retire in 2021, 2022 respectively
Former world champions to become sporting directors of Boels-Dolmans/SD Worx
Boels-Dolmans’ Dutch powerhouses Anna van der Breggen and Chantal van den Broeck-Blaak have re-signed with the team with the intention of retiring soon to become sporting directors and coaches of the squad. Van der Breggen will race for the team in its new incarnation, SD Worx, until after the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games and Blaak will retire at the end of 2022. Both will retire before age 33.
Van der Breggen has been one of the most dominant women on the road over the past five years, winning the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile twice, La Flèche Wallonne Féminine five straight years, the 2016 Rio Olympic Games road race, the 2018 World championship and the 2017 WorldTour title. She triumphed in her only competition before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana stage race. Van der Breggen will be DS/coach at SD Worx until the end of 2024.
Blaak has wins in Gent-Wevelgem, Ronde van Drenthe, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Amstel Gold Race and the 2017 World Championships. She took her third Le Samyn des Dames title in early March. She will also act as DS/coach through 2024.
Under the title sponsorship of Boels equipment rental and Dolmans landscaping, the Netherlands-based outfit has won the team competition in all of the first four years of the Women’s WorldTour. Belgian human resource services company SD Worx has signed on as title sponsor from 2021 to 2024.
Canadian Karol-Ann Canuel’s contract runs out at the end of the season.
