2024: Establishing themselves in the World Tour
AG Insurance-Soudal is a very recent arrival in the Women’s World Tour peloton. Indeed, the Belgian team was created in 2020 under the name of NXTG Racing and was at the time a U23 formation. When the name of the team became AG Insurance-Soudal in 2022, this change of sponsor announced a change of dimension for the team of Jurgen Foré, with more consistent appearances at the world's biggest races.
In 2024, AG Insurance-Soudal’s riders continued to write the history of their team with the first two stage wins at Grand Tours. First of all, the Mauritian Champion Kimberley Le Court Pienaar raised her arms on the final stage of the Giro d’Italia, crowning a beautiful first season at the highest level of cycling for her, where she also finished in the top ten at Paris-Roubaix. At the same Giro, Justine Ghekiere also shone by bringing home the QOM jersey, a performance that she reprised on the roads of the Tour de France Femmes, at which she also won the seventh stage after a day in the breakaway.
Earlier in the season, it was the Australian climber Sarah Gigante who had distinguished herself by winning the general classification of the Tour Down Under, along with the third and queen stage at the top of Willunga Hill. The native of Melbourne also showed her climbing capacities at the Tour de France, where she finished seventh overall. In bunch sprints, it was Ally Wollaston who was the team's main card. Indeed, the rider from New Zealand raised her arms three times throughout the season, including one time at WWT, at the Tour Down Under.
Overall, thanks to these great results, but also to the good performances of the African Champion Ashleigh Moolman in the Ardennes classics (5th at the Flèche Wallonne and 7th at the Amstel Gold Race), AG Insurance-Soudal finished the season in 14th in the UCI classification, confirming their place in the first division of cycling. In addition, the eleven wins collected by the Belgian team in 2024 are a new record for Jurgen Foré’s riders, who will hope to improve this number even more in the future.
No madness during the transfer window
For 2025, AG Insurance-Soudal’s management team made the choice of stability. Indeed, out of the seventeen riders that will be under contract next season, only five of them will make their debut in the jersey of the Belgian team.
The most known of them is undeniably Urška Žigart, who is coming from Liv AlUla Jayco. At 27 years old, the Slovenian champion is a great climber, as proven by her top 10 at the Tour de Suisse or her 12th place at the Giro d’Italia last season. She will be a very important piece of the climbing team of AG Insurance-Soudal next year, with a role of domestique or leader depending on the race.
Along with her, the 28-year-old Alexandra Manly also joins from the Australian team. The former winner of the Internationale LOTTO Thuringen Tour will hope to get back to her level of 2022, when she finished in the top 25 of the UCI rankings, after a season comprising six wins. This good puncheur will be an asset for her new team in the Ardennes Classics while the other recruits should be important for the Flanders ones. Indeed, the two Belgians, Fauve Bastiaenssen and Alana Castrique, are both used to these races and could be very good domestiques for Kimberley Le Court Pienaar.
Finally, the strong all-round rider, Gladys Verhulst-Wild, who finished 12th at Paris-Roubaix last year but is also capable of shining in small group sprints or races with more ascent. One of her main objectives for 2025 could be to finally raise her arms at the French National Championships, a race where she has finished on the podium five times without bringing the jersey home.
A climbing team to reach new heights?
For her first year with AG Insurance-Soudal, Sarah Gigante was one of the revelations of the 2024 season in the Women’s World Tour peloton. Indeed, at 24 years old, the native of Melbourne showed her great climbing capacities throughout the season. In addition to her win on the general classification of the Tour Down Under, Gigante was also very consistent during the European season, crowning it with a beautiful seventh place at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, after an eighth place on the Alpe d’Huez. After two years with Movistar during which she did not race a lot, the Australian definitely made a name for herself among the best climbers in the world and should be one to watch in 2025.
Sarah Gigante has and will surely benefit a lot from the experience of the much more experienced Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, who is still very capable of performing at almost 39 years old. Indeed, the South African had a good 2024 season, especially in the Ardennes Classics, finishing in the top seven at the Flèche Wallonne and at the Amstel Gold Race. She also managed to win her fifth African Championships - her first in nine years - and placed herself in the top ten overall at the Tour de Romandie, a race that she already won in the past. These good results prove that Moolman Pasio is still one of the best in the peloton when the road rises and she should be a very important piece for AG Insurance-Soudal next year.
The addition of Urška Žigart for next year further strengthens the climbing team for AG Insurance-Soudal as the Slovenian is capable of shining in general classifications as proven by her ninth place at the Tour de Suisse but also her 12th at the Giro d’Italia. The former rider of Liv AlUla Jayco could also have a role of domestique or stage chaser, as could the specialist of QOM jersey Justine Ghekiere. Finally, the young Lore De Schepper will be one of the young talents to check on next season, as she already finished eighth at the Tour de Romandie last year at only 19 years old, in a season where she also raised her arms at the Grand Prix de Chambéry, ahead of Evita Muzic.
Kimberley Le Court Pienaar: The one nobody was expecting
When she signed with AG Insurance-Soudal during the 2023-2024 interseason, almost nobody knew who Kimberley Le Court Pienaar was. Indeed, the Mauritian rider almost only rode in her continent for the first years of her career and it was a real gamble from the Belgian team’s staff to bring her to the World Tour. However, the rider from this small island in the Indian Ocean was undeniably was of the greatest revelations of the year, posting excellent results throughout the season.
Le Court Pienaar showed that she was an excellent asset for her team in the Flanders Classics, finishing in the top ten at the Classic Brugge-De Panne and at Paris-Roubaix, but she also proved that she could climb very well, as demonstrated by her top five at the Volta a Catalunya. The peak of the Mauritian's season was surely her stage win at the Giro d’Italia, in her first ever Grand Tour. She managed to raise her arms for the first time outside of Africa in l’Aquila, after a very difficult stage.
Her strong performances this season permitted Le Court Pienaar to extend her contract with AG Insurance-Soudal until 2026, with a new role of leader in some races. The addition of Verhulst-Wild, Castrique and Bastiaenssen in the Flanders squad will be very important for the 28-year-old, who will also surely be able to play her card at Grand Tours, maybe to chase more stages. Thanks to her performances, Kimberley Le Court Pienaar is putting Mauritius on the World map of cycling, with the hope of developing the sport on this small island of only just over one million inhabitants, known more for its beaches than for its cyclists.
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