Demi Vollering to leave SD Worx-Protime, reports

Demi Vollering, the reigning Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift champion, is set to leave her current team, SD Worx-Protime, according to a report in GCN. 

The 27-year-old is the top-ranked female cyclist by the UCI, and is out of contract at the end of this season.

Speaking to GCN, SD Worx-Protime manager Danny Stam said an extension is not on the cards. 

"It’s about budget," Stam said. Last month, the team penned a four-year extension with Lotte Kopecky, keeping the world champion in its ranks until 2028. 

"Everyone knows that Lotte has signed until 2028 and we've tried hard to keep the team. But for Demi, I don’t think that it’s an option for us," Stam said. "You need to make a choice, and at one moment things can go away but I think it’s clear that we can’t have two riders from that level in our team."

Asked to confirm whether Vollering will leave the team, Stam said that it was "definitely sure". 

At the start of this year, reports emerged that Vollering had been offered a €1 million contract to join UAE Team ADQ. "It's a lot of money," Stam told GCN last month. "She's one of the best riders at the moment, so of course we want to keep her, but not for €1 million."

In a statement posted on X, SD Worx-Protime team manager Erwin Janssen said he had made the Dutchwoman a "generous offer". 

"[We] indicated that this should be responded to before a certain date," Janssen said. "Vollering's management did not respond to this. Therefore, we assume that Vollering will leave the team at the end of the year." 

It is unknown at this stage what team the 27-year-old will ride for in 2025.

Last July, the Dutchwoman took the biggest victory of her career when she won the Tour de France Femmes, over three minutes ahead of her team-mate Kopecky. "We really make each other stronger," she said of her team. 

Vollering's yellow jersey triumph followed a stellar spring campaign in which she completed an Ardennes treble, winning the Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. 

She has only raced three times this season, and was competing at Dwars door Vlaanderen when reports of her departure broke.

Cycling Weekly has contacted SD-Worx Protime for further details.