The women’s Human Powered Health squad confirmed the addition of two teammates from Le Col-Wahoo to complete their 15-rider roster for 2023. Dutch track and road rider Marjolein van‘t Geloof and Belgian sprinter Jesse Vandenbulcke both signed for one year in a step to the Women’s WorldTour from the British squad.
The pair of 26-year-olds fortifies the firepower of Human Powered Health for the Classics. Vandenbulcke, the 2019 Belgian road race champion, won the national-level Geluwe and PK Oost-Vlaanderen races this year and finished second behind Van‘t Geloof at Grote Prijs Beerens in September. In addition to her one-day victory, Van‘t Geloof was runner-up at Binche Chimay Binche behind European Champion Lorena Wiebes, and on the track captured the Dutch national Madison championship alongside Nina Kessler.
“I’m really looking forward to a new project. It’s great to have something you have input in and work together with the team on. That’s something I love, working with teammates and starting a new adventure with new vibes,” Van‘t Geloof said in a team statement. “It’s now time for me to step up results-wise and make it count and do something special next year.”
At the inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, she battled way to 13th place, and that event remains one of her top objectives.
“Paris–Roubaix has to be one of the main goals again for me. Flanders is also my favorite place to ride and there’s something so special about being there at that time in Belgium because everyone just breathes cycling,” she added.
Van‘t Geloof has raced five years on the Continental level, the last three with Le Col-Wahoo and Drops programme, while Vandenbulcke has raced for six seasons with Continental teams, taking a break across 2017-2018 to have a son, Fabian.
Vandenbulcke amassed 14 top-10 finishes in 2022 including a ninth overall at the World Tour’s RideLondon Classique. She was part of Le Col’s squad at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift as well.
“Racing eight days in a row was new so I was happy to find out how to plan for a long stage race,” she said about the Tour de France Femmes. “In a lot of races, the only goal is to survive at the end but at longer races, you can really plan tactics, which is different to one-day classics.
“I’m happy to be a part of Human Powered Health as the team grows to a higher level.”
Joining the new duo at a team training camp in Girona, Spain later this month will be British all-rounder Alice Barnes and Polish sprinter Daria Pikulik.
A double national champion for Great Britain on the road and time trial in 2019, Barnes signed a two-year deal. Racing for Canyon-SRAM Racing the last five seasons, she won the points classification at the EasyToys Bloeizone Fryslân Tour and had four top-10 finishes in one-day races this past season.
Pikulik is a road sprinter with a track background, having won the Districtenpijl – Ekeren-Deurne this year plus four top-five finishes at the Baloise Ladies Tour.
The bulk of the team remains intact for a second year on the WorldTour level, with six of the 11 riders 23 years old or younger, including North American teenagers Makayla MacPherson and Kaia Schmid. Olympian Lily Williams is currently racing the UCI Track Champions League and is third overall in the Endurance category standings after two rounds.
One of the top climbers in the peloton returns, Nina Buijsman of the Netherlands, who was part of many big breakaways last year including the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas, Tour de France Femmes and Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta. She finished in the GC top 10 at Lotto Belgium Tour and CIC-Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées.
Human Powered Health Women 2023 roster:
- Alice Barnes (GBr)
- Nina Buijsman (Ned)
- Henrietta Christie (NZL)
- Antri Christoforou (CYP)
- Katie Clouse (USA)
- Mieke Kröger (Ger)
- Makayla MacPherson (USA)
- Barbara Malcotti (ITA)
- Daria Pikulik (Pol)
- Marit Raaijmakers (Ned)
- Marjolein van‘t Geloof (Ned)
- Kaia Schmid (USA)
- Jesse Vandenbulcke (Bel)
- Lily Williams (USA)
- Eri Yonamine (Jap)
