Team SD Worx-Protime’s leader, Anna van der Breggen, announced her return to the WorldTour in emphatic style with a second place finish behind Demi Vollering at Strade Bianche. Van der Breggen may have been outsprinted by a rider who she coached during her sabbatical as sports director for SD Worx, but the podium result was a successful return to the race she won in 2018.
Like the winner, who now rides for FDJ-Suez and brought Specialized with her in her new deal, Van der Breggen was riding on the S-Works Tarmac SL8 across the gravel roads of Tuscany. Strade Bianche – similar to races like the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubiax – offers a unique challenge in terms of equipment. The bike has to be fast enough for the tarmac sections of the course, responsive enough for sharp accelerations, light enough for the numerous climbs and most importantly durable enough to withstand the dirt roads.
The S-Works Tarmac SL8 already has multiple race wins in its own palmarès since it was launched in 2023. The SL8 and its predecessor, the SL7, carried a rider to victory in the last five editions of the women’s Strade Bianche with four SD Worx wins between 2021 and 2024 and Vollering’s recent triumph.
When she won the race in 2018, Van der Breggen did so riding an S-Works Tarmac. Seven years on, her team-issue bike is decked out in SD Worx’s striking pink, orange, yellow and purple colours. The frame design means that it’s not only the team’s clothing that stands out in the bunch. The words “write our story” are part of the top tube design and on the seatstay: “Ride together. Win together." The black Tacx bottle cages provide a clean look to the set-up.
As you would expect, Van der Breggen’s Tarmac has the latest SRAM Red groupset, released in 2024, set up with 48/35 chainrings for the race in northern Italy. The Dutchwoman certainly laid down some power through her Time pedals up the 16% climb to the finish line along Via Santa Caterina.
Van der Breggen was riding over Strade Bianche’s 13 sections of dirt tracks aided by the Roval Rapide handlebars, which provided an aerodynamic integrated bar and stem set up. Specialized says that the handlebars are “aerodynamically engineered to save 20+ seconds over 40km vs a round bar”.
Roval also provides the wheels, which are the Roval Rapide CLX II Team, launched last year. The team version is 130g lighter than the original, now weighing a claimed 1,360g. When the new wheels were launched, Roval said they were the fastest in the peloton and that “speed is about balancing the right things, and the combination of DT Swiss Aerolite II spokes with the all-new Roval hub resulted in a 0.5-watt drag savings compared to our Rapide CLX II wheels, making the fastest in the peloton faster”. The 28mm tyres are S-Works Turbo Cottons with tan walls giving the wheels a classic look.
