Wheel Talk Newsletter: Return of the VAM

Abby Mickey

Cor Vos

The six-day Eneco Tour finally marked the end of the 2026 season*. For some reason, it feels like the cycling season gets longer every year, and next season, with the Vuelta a España running from October 3 to 10, it will feel like the longest ever. Now, riders are jetting off to pre-offseason camps to meet new teammates and old ones before some much-needed down/family time. No bikes in sight (except maybe a mountain bike or two, you know, for fun).

As for the Wheel Talk podcast, we have one more group episode today for you all before I get to dive into one of my favourite traditions: offseason interviews. I’ve got some awesome ones lined up; I hope you will enjoy them, and if you have any suggestions on who you’d like to hear from, feel free to drop it in the comments or tag me in a message on the Wheel Talk Discord channel.

*A note that the season isn’t actually over for everyone. The Italian women’s national championship time trial that never happened during the summer is set to take place on Saturday.

First things first: Setting the 2027 foundation at the Eneco Tour

They say that you’re only as good as your last race, so for a few riders who ended their season at the Eneco Tour, that means 2027 is already looking great.

The first person on that list is Lieke Nooijen of Visma-Lease a Bike, who won the two TT stages of the race and then took the overall. Nooijen was already enjoying a solid season with a win in the Dutch national championship road race, second place in the TT stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (the best result for Visma-Lease a Bike all week), and then a chance to represent the Netherlands in the World Championships in Montreal. Winning two stages at the Eneco Tour just shows how much potential the 25-year-old has, especially for Visma-Lease a Bike, a team that had a quieter 2026 season than expected.

Femke Markus, who is on her way from SD Worx-Protime to Visma-Lease a Bike, also showed incredible strength all week to win stage 3 and finish second overall. Her stage win was a daring one, with Visma furiously chasing to make sure Nooijen kept the overall lead.

Markus was one of the up-and-coming riders on VolkerWessels until 2023, when she moved to SD Worx for the next four seasons. Her move to Visma is an exciting one.

Then there’s Maud Rijnbeek, a member of Markus’s old team VolkerWessels, who put down an incredible week overall, but really shone during the fourth stage – the queen stage – on the Col du Vam. The 23-year-old was part of a breakaway that was eventually caught but never gave up fighting and ended up finishing third on the stage. Rijnbeek also ended the week fourth overall, a very solid result that is bound to get some interest from the bigger teams despite the fact that she is signed with her current team through 2027.

The fourth stage was a real blast from the past, with circuits of the Col du Vam. The climb was a major part of the now-cancelled Ronde van Drenthe, a race that used to be one of the bigger Classics on the women’s calendar.

Sandrine Tas’ stage 1 victory was an exciting one. The ex-speed skater outsprinted Charlotte Kool, who walked away from the week without a victory. Tas is still finding her way in the peloton with Lotto Intermarché, but she is doing it at a rapid pace and I, for one, am very excited to see how she does in the Classics next year.

A couple more riders worth a shout-out: Letizia Borghesi (AG Insurance-Soudal) took the win she’s been hunting for years. It wasn’t at the level she wanted, but it opens the door for more victories in the future, hopefully.

Marthe Truyen (Fenix-Premier Tech) also took a win, the second of her career. Truyen was part of a late move in the final stage and outsprinted Scarlett Souren for the result. Unfortunately, that meant that Kool didn’t get a chance to take the stage (she finished third, first of the remaining peloton), but the Kool was thrilled for her teammate, and their celebrations were great to see.

Nienke Vinke had a great time trial on stage 2 to finish second behind Nooijen, and Pfeiffer Georgi looked like there was a fire under her rear wheel, especially during the fourth stage where she took second behind Borghesi. It will be awesome to see the British rider in a new team next year and hopefully back at that top level.

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