The Ladies’s WorldTour begins a brand new three-year cycle in 2026, a brand new period that may hopefully result in additional development for girls’s racing that has been on a quick upwards trajectory for a number of seasons.
Solely 14 groups have been awarded WorldTour licence for 2026, partially resulting from quickly rising prices and extra stringent registration guidelines, however riders are incomes extra and have extra advantages and have extra visibility than ever earlier than.
EF Schooling-Oatly have been promoted to the 2026 WorldTour. Sadly, the Ceratizit crew closed and Roland Le Dévoluy dropped out of the professional peloton, whereas Cofidis turned a ProTeam. Promotion and relegation after 2028 ought to see an actual battle for UCI rating factors.
Demi Vollering is inspiring at FDJ United-Suez, Kim Le Courtroom-Pienaar aggressively leads AG Insurance coverage-Soudal, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney is Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto’s GC star, Puck Pieterse exhibits off her multi-talents at Fenix-Premier Tech, Marlen Reusser and Cat Ferguson are impressing at Movistar, Elisa Longo Borghini leads UAE Group ADQ’s development, whereas Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Marianne Vos lead Visma-Lease a Bike.
AG Insurance coverage-Soudal
- UCI World Rating 2025: ninth
- Key riders: Kim Le Courtroom-Pienaar, Sarah Gigante. Urška Žigart
- Rider to observe: Letizia Borghesi
AG Insurance coverage-Soudal loved a profitable 2025 because of Kim Le Courtroom-Pienaar, Sarah Gigante and Urška Žigart and have opted for little change for 2026.
Le Courtroom-Pienaar was one of many stars of the Tour de France Femmes because of her stage win, three top-three outcomes and 4 days within the chief’s yellow jersey. She’s going to certainly step up one other degree in 2026 as she exhibits off her multi-coloured Mauritius nationwide champion’s jersey.
Gigante recovered from iliac artery surgical procedure to win two levels and end second on the Giro d’Italia Ladies. She was sixth on the Tour and second to Pauline Ferrand-Prévot on the ultimate and decisive Col de la Madeleine. She fractured her femur earlier than the World Championships however was little doubt impressed by seeing the Colle delle Finestre as the ultimate climb of the Giro route for 2026 and a Mont Ventoux summit end within the Tour.
Žigart did not win a race in 2025 however her palmarès was filled with top-five outcomes, ninth general on the Giro and second on the late-season Tour de Romandie Féminin.
Letizia Borghesi is the crew’s solely new signing, with the Italian bringing her Classics expertise and a need to return to her greatest after two tough years. Her second place at Paris-Roubaix confirmed her true degree.
Ashleigh Moolman Pasio lately turned 40 however continues as a job mannequin, with Shari Bossuyt again racing with AG Insurance coverage-Soudal after her doping ban resulted in June 2025.
Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto
- UCI World Rating 2025: fifth
- Key riders: Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Chloé Dygert, Tiffany Cromwell
- Rider to observe: Zoe Bäckstedt
Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto won’t be one of many true tremendous groups of girls’s biking however they stand out within the peloton because of their colors and the qualities of Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Chloé Dygert, Zoe Bäckstedt, Soraya Paladin, Tiffany Cromwell and Chiara Consonni.
Niewiadoma-Phinney completed third within the 2025 Tour, to finish a singular set of 4 consecutive podium locations, after one other elegant Grand Tour efficiency. She solely gained the Polish nationwide championships in 2025 however at all times races arduous, her lack of a quick dash end her solely weak spot.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig had a low-key 2025, discovering she was preventing intestinal parasites late within the season. She’s going to certainly be again to her greatest in 2026. Zoe Bäckstedt gained the under-23 time trial world title in Rwanda and the Baloise Women Tour as she continues to develop yr on yr. The Classics are certainly inside her attain.
Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto can have a 16-rider roster in 2026, with Cromwell driving her eleventh season for the crew and Dygert her sixth. Rolf Aldag was named because the crew’s Director of Sport in late December.
EF Schooling-Oatly
- UCI World Rating 2025: tenth
- Key riders: Magdeleine Vallieres, Kristen Faulkner, Cédrine Kerbaol
- Rider to observe: Caoimhe O’Brien
EF Schooling-Oatly step-up to the WorldTour in 2026 after two seasons of development and consolidation at ProTeam degree.
Alison Jackson has left for St Michel-Choice House-Auber93 however the American crew have invested in younger expertise and signed six new riders, together with Solbjørk Minke Anderson from Uno-X Mobility, Alice Towers from Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto and up-and-coming Irish rider Caoimhe O’Brien.
“As our crew strikes as much as the WorldTour in 2026 and we now have a handful of riders with depth and expertise to anchor the squad, we’ve signed younger riders like Caoimhe to proceed our work of shaping the following era,” crew supervisor Esra Tromp mentioned.
Canada’s Magdeleine Vallieres got here of age by turning into world champion and EF Schooling-Oatly also can rely on Olympic highway race champion Kristen Faulkner and Cédrine Kerbaol to guide and encourage the crew in 2026.
FDJ United-Suez
- UCI World Rating 2025: 1st
- Key riders: Demi Vollering, Évita Muzic, Juliette Labous
- Rider to observe: Eva van Agt
Demi Vollering’s switch to FDJ United-Suez for 2025 sparked a change within the stability of energy within the ladies’s WorldTour, with FDJ United-Suez topping the UCI crew rankings, a transparent signal of their power and the success of Vollering’s first season away from SD Worx. The French crew might be seeking to enhance much more in 2026.
Vollering couldn’t match Ferrand-Prévot’s climbing prowess within the Tour however she was again to her greatest, successful 11 occasions through the season, together with the European title, Strade Bianche and the Vuelta Femenina. She stays a figurehead and inspiration in ladies’s biking however thankfully she isn’t alone.
Group supervisor Stephen Delcourt is decided to tackle SD Worx and Lidl-Trek and the French crew can rely on Elise Chabbey, Juliette Labous, Vittoria Guazzini, Évita Muzic, French nationwide champion Marie Le Web and Tour of Britain winner Ally Wollaston. New signings embody Eva van Agt, Franziska Koch, Lauren Dickson and Sofia Bertizzolo to strengthen the core of the 16-rider squad for 2026.
Fenix-Premier Tech
- UCI World Rating 2025: eleventh
- Key riders: Puck Pieterse, Charlotte Kool
- Rider to observe: Flora Perkins
Fenix-Premier Tech is a part of the galaxy of profitable groups managed by the Roodhooft brothers in Belgium, with the ladies’s crew racing on the highway, in cyclocross and in mountain bikes.
Puck Pieterse has the abilities to do all of it and proved it in 2025, successful mountain bike World Cups, main cyclo-cross races and La Flèche Wallonne on the highway. She was a detailed second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and once more animated the Tour de France Femmes.
The 2026 Fenix-Premier Tech roster additionally consists of Charlotte Kool after her mid-season switch in 2025. The 26-year-old sprinter isn’t fairly as quick as Lorena Wiebes however already has 21 victories on her palmarès, together with two Tour levels. Yara Kastelijn is one other cornerstone of the crew, whereas Britain’s Flora Perkins is among the younger skills.
Human Powered Well being
- UCI World Rating 2025: thirteenth
- Key riders: Kathrin Schweinberger, Lily Williams, Thalita de Jong
- Rider to observe: Titia Ryo
The US-registered Human Powered Well being crew has been within the ladies’s peloton for over a decade and a WorldTour crew since 2022. The healthcare firm lately prolonged their assist for 3 extra years they usually employed Magnus Bäckstedt as Head Sports activities Director.
“This can be a rising challenge, and that’s what excites me. Now could be the right time for me to come back in and assist information the crew in the direction of the place it needs to be,” Bäckstedt mentioned.
The 20-rider 2026 roster consists of 5 new signings, together with Marta Jaskulska and 20-year-old French rider Titia Ryo, who was second within the Tour de France Femmes greatest younger rider competitors in 2025.
Lily WIlliams, Maggie Coles-Lyster, Kathrin Schweinberger and Thalita de Jong all stay as crew leaders, while Ruth Edwards takes time away on maternity go away.
Human Powered Well being use Issue bikes and so will race on the brand new Issue ONE aero bike in 2026.
Lidl-Trek
- UCI World Rating 2025: 4th
- Key riders: Elisa Balsamo, Niamh Fisher-Black
- Rider to observe: Ricarda Bauernfeind
2025 was a yr of transition for the Lidl-Trek ladies’s crew and extra generational change is available in 2026 following the retirement of stalwarts Lizzie Deignan and Ellen van Dijk.
Elisa Balsamo, Niamh Fisher-Black, cyclo-cross star Lucinda Model, Gaia Realini and Anna Henderson all share management, with Lidl-Trek hoping Balsamo and particularly Realini can bounce again in 2026 after a season disrupted by sickness and damage.
“We have got to step-up a degree after rebuilding the roster. I hope we are able to get again to the extent of the previous few years, once we have been amongst one of the best groups within the ladies’s peloton and capable of win each race,” crew supervisor Luca Guercilena informed Cyclingnews.
New signings embody Tour stage winner Ricarda Bauernfeind, Loes Adegeest and Eire’s Marine Lenehan who has solely been racing for 3 years.
Liv AlUla Jayco
- UCI World Rating 2025: eighth
- Key riders: Georgia Baker, Letizia Paternoster, Monica Trinca Colonel
- Rider to observe: Mackenzie Coupland
The stand-out MAAP Liv AlUla Jayco equipment returns to the WorldTour in 2026, with the crew once more flying the flag for Australian biking.
Mavi García has moved to UAE Group ADQ however the 15-rider roster consists of Georgia Baker, Letizia Paternoster, Monica Trinca Colonel and Ruby Roseman-Gannon.
Baker is a trusted highway captain and ended 2025 with a stage win on the Tour of Chongming Island. Paternoster returned to her true degree in 2025 after two injury-hit seasons, ending fifth on the Trofeo Alfredo Binda after which sporting the purple chief’s jersey on the Vuelta Femenina. Monica Trinca Colonel took a solo victory and so sealed general victory at Tour Féminin de l’Ardèche.
Ruby Roseman-Gannon has agreed a contract extension and can stick with Liv AlUla Jayco till the top of 2027 in a management function.
“Over the previous two years, we’ve constructed quite a lot of momentum and I’m excited to see the place we are able to take it sooner or later.” Roseman-Gannon mentioned.
“As a crew we now have quite a lot of power, motivation, positivity and an actual sense of belonging between us. I’m actually motivated to make the following two years my greatest but.”
Movistar
- UCI World Rating 2025: sixth
- Key riders: Marlen Reusser, Liane Lippert, Cat Ferguson
- Rider to observe: Paula Ostiz
Movistar introduced their ladies’s, males’s and improvement crew collectively this winter, as each main and fashionable professional biking crew ought to.
Marlen Reusser and Cat Ferguson stand out as crew leaders however Sara Martín is the present Spanish nationwide champion, with junior world and European champion Paula Ostiz certainly a future expertise.
The crew’s solely different new addition is Italy’s Francesca Barale, with Liane Lippert, Floortje Mackaij and Sheyla Gutiérrez forming the skilled core, while Arlenis Sierra is because of return from maternity go away. Tota Magalhães, Martín and Aude Biannic have all prolonged their contracts.
Ferguson’s first full season at WorldTour degree confirmed her potential, along with her stage win and second place on the Tour of Britain Ladies standing out. She was third on the Trofeo Alfredo Binda in March and ended 2025 with a win on the Vuelta Ciclista Andalucia in October.
Reusser confirmed her climbing and stage race skills in 2025, successful the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas and the Tour de Suisse and ending second within the Vuelta Femenina and the Giro d’Italia Ladies, regardless of a late-race sickness. She was pressured to tug out of the Tour de France Femmes throughout stage 1 resulting from abdomen issues however gained the world and European time trial titles and can certainly be hungry for Tour revenge in 2026.
Picnic PostNL
- UCI World Rating 2025: 14th
- Key riders: Pfeiffer Georgi, Mia Griffin
- Rider to observe: Robyn Clay
The Picnic PostNL crew gained simply 4 races in 2025 and misplaced Charlotte Kool to Fenix-Deceuninck in a mid-season switch. They went near some victories together with on the Schwalbe Ladies’s One Day Basic in Australia, Gent-Wevelgem, Copenhagen Dash however the crew’s season was mirrored of their fall from fourth to 14th within the UCI crew rankings.
Pfeiffer Georgi was second within the 2025 British nationwide championships, lacking out on a 3rd consecutive title. She is Picnic PostNL’s protected rider and crew chief for 2026, with 50% of the roster altering round her.
Marta Cavalli ultimately opted to retire after getting back from severe damage, whereas Franziska Koch moved to FDJ United-Suez and the USA’s Megan Jastrab moved to UAE Group ADQ. Twenty-one-year-old expertise Nienke Vinke was arguably the most important loss. She opted to maneuver on after successful one of the best younger rider’s white jersey on the Tour de France Femmes, becoming a member of SD Worx-Protime.
New signings embody Audrey De Keersmaeker from Lotto, Eire’s Mia Griffin and Britain’s Robyn Clay who steps as much as the WorldTour after numerous lower-level success.
SD Worx-Protime
- UCI World Rating 2025: 2nd
- Key riders: Lorena Wiebes, Lotte Kopecky
- Rider to observe: Valentina Cavallar
The Ladies’s WorldTour has developed considerably lately with one of the best riders now unfold throughout a number of groups. But SD Worx-Protime proceed to face out as a ladies’s tremendous crew because of the success of Lorena Wiebes, Lotte Kopecky and Anna van der Breggen.
Wiebes gained 25 races in 2025, together with Milan-San Remo Ladies, Gent-Wevelgem and levels on the Giro and the Tour. She gained 5 of the six levels of the Simac Women Tour within the Netherlands to underline her dominance within the sprints. She remains to be solely 26.
Kopecky had a rollercoaster season by her requirements however nonetheless gained the Tour of Flanders. She has suffered with decrease again issues, began the Giro and the Tour however suffered in each races. She ultimately determined to finish her season early and reset for 2026.
Anna van der Breggen got here out of retirement and instantly confirmed her class with second place at Strade Bianche. She was additionally third general on the Vuelta Femenina and rode the Giro and Tour. She might be 36 in April however is clearly not achieved but.
SD Worx-Protime signed Valentina Cavallar from Arkéa-B&B Accommodations and future expertise Nienke Vinke from Picnic PostNL, reinforcing the crew’s stage race choices and investing for the longer term.
UAE Group ADQ
- UCI World Rating 2025: third
- Key riders: Elisa Longo Borghini, Mavi Garcia, Pauliena Rooijakkers
- Rider to observe: Maëva Squiban
Elisa Longo Borghini elevated UAE Group ADQ‘s ambitions after becoming a member of the crew for 2025. The Italian gained the UAE Tour, a second consecutive Giro and a bunch of different one-day races.
Longo Borghini begins 2026 as Italian nationwide and can goal the Giro GC as soon as once more earlier than returning to the Tour with unfinished enterprise. She has nonetheless to make her mark within the sport’s greatest race and was pressured to desert in 2025. The brand new early June date for the Giro offers Longo Borghini and others an opportunity to go for the Giro-Tour double in 2026.
UAE Group ADQ has the most important roster within the 2026 WorldTour with 21 riders. Mavi García returns, bolstered by her Tour stage win and third place within the Rwanda World Championships highway race. Twenty-three-year-old Maëva Squiban was the revelation of the 2025 Tour, successful again to again levels and it will likely be fascinating to observe her in 2026.
Megan Jastrab joins from Picnic PostNL, with Elynor Bäckstedt, Silvia Persico, Brodie Chapman the core of the crew and all confirmed WorldTour riders. Twenty-year-old Federica Venturelli is growing quickly and joins from the UAE improvement crew together with Febe Jooris.
Uno-X Mobility
- UCI World Rating 2025: twelfth
- Key riders: Susanne Andersen, Mie Bjørndal Ottestad
- Rider to observe: Anniina Ahtosalo
Uno-X Mobility surprisingly had no WorldTour victories in 2025 however did win 14 lesser races, together with six completely different nationwide time trial and highway race titles and so rose from sixteenth to twelfth within the UCI rankings.
Susanne Andersen gained the Antwerp Port Epic and Mie Bjørndal Ottestad gained the crew’s dwelling race, the Tour of Norway. Ottestad was additionally third on the Tour Down Beneath.
Group supervisor Thor Hushovd has shaken up the crew workers, with Anna Badegruber changing Alex Greenfield, whereas Megan Chard, Nicolas Marche, and Alejandro Gonzalez Tablas be part of as sports activities administrators.
The crew will goal the sprints with Anniina Ahtosalo, the Classics with Andersen, and construct on Katrine Aalerud’s tenth place on the Giro.
“We need to hold constructing on what we began. 2025 confirmed we’re on the precise path. Now it’s about persevering with that improvement,” Badegruber mentioned.
“It’s about creating a powerful construction, for our sprinters, for our GC leaders, and for the crew as an entire. And persevering with to present riders area to develop inside that.”
Visma-Lease a Bike
- UCI World Rating 2025: seventh
- Key riders: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Marianne Vos
- Rider to observe: Imogen Wolff
Visma-Lease a Bike will head into 2026 with lofty targets and loftier expectations, given their successes in 2025, regardless of being one of many newer WorldTour groups.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot returned to WorldTour highway racing after a five-year absence and instantly proved her multi-talents and have become the most important title within the ladies’s peloton by successful Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de France Femme. She made historical past and big headlines as the primary French rider to win the Tour since Bernard Hinault in 1985.
Ferrand-Prévot is concentrated and pushed and he or she ready particularly for the Tour and the decisive excessive mountain levels within the Alps, together with dropping weight which sparked a debate within the ladies’s peloton.
Ferrand-Prévot raised the bar in ladies’s Grand Tour racing and can return to the Tour in 2026, little doubt enthusiastic in regards to the stage that finishes on Mont Ventoux.
Marianne Vos turns 39 in Might however appears everlasting. She has racked up 258 profession victories and added two levels on the Vuelta and the opening stage of the Tour to her GOAT palmarès. She wore the yellow jersey for 3 days and was additionally second at Milan-San Remo and the top of season Gravel World Championships. 2026 might be Vos’ final dance however that might be her resolution as she has a particular lifetime contract with Visma-Lease a Bike.
The Dutch superteam has a top quality 15-rider roster for 2026 with Daniek Hengeveld and Canada’s Sarah Van Dam becoming a member of from the defunct Ceratizit crew. Fem van Empel introduced her retirement from the game for private causes however British expertise Imogen Wolff, Martina Fidanza and Nienke Veenhoven are riders to observe.