Imogen Wolff is one in all a number of youngsters who joined the Girls’s WorldTour in 2025. She shortly confirmed that Visma-Lease a Bike made the precise determination, netting her first professional win on stage 3 of the Vuelta a Extremadura after which raced Gent-Wevelgem Girls as a frontrunner.
Racing Milan-San Remo, Brugge de Panne and Gent-Wevelgem in an eight-day spell of hectic competitors has been a baptism of fireside for the 19-year-old Briton however she has already proven sufficient for Visma to belief her.
She made it over Kemmelberg climb among the many prime 15 riders in Gent-Wevelgem, earlier than trying to steer out Martina Fidanza within the dash. Wolff completed twentieth and her sprinter 18th, however that consequence would not fairly present the potential for future success.
“It was a curler coaster, fairly chaotic in the beginning, and I obtained actually caught out heading into the echelon part. We managed to get again, and my job was to recover from the climbs. I simply held on as finest as I may,” Wolf informed Cyclingnews on the end.
“I am happy to have come over with the entrance group of 20-15 riders, after which when it got here again collectively, which was nice for us as a result of now we have Martina.
“Within the final kilometre, I used to be making an attempt actually laborious to drop her off at Kopecky and Wiebes’ prepare. However we simply misplaced one another within the remaining. I believe we might be happy with the trip however the consequence sounds a bit shit, so it would not actually mirror that.”
Sincere in her evaluation of the staff’s efficiency, Wolff may nonetheless be glad with the place her kind is at, given the robust adjustment from racing in a junior peloton in opposition to the entire world’s finest.
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“The event is fairly cool, to be sincere, and fairly stunning. It feels prefer it’s taking a little bit of time to seek out my toes with issues exterior the bodily stuff, like positioning, the wind and techniques,” mentioned Wolff.
“However I believe the truth that perhaps my bodily aspect is there’s very nice and promising. So I am pleased with that.
“It is every little thing aside from the precise watts, just like the fuelling and the size of the races. However notably for me, the positioning within the bunch as a result of as a substitute of at juniors, the place there’s perhaps 20 women that may struggle for the entrance there’s 120 so you have to be actually, actually sharp.
“However I am actually having fun with the entire technique of studying and I am actually fortunate that the staff’s given me the time and the area to study and that there is some fairly cool athletes in my staff that I can study from.”
Wolff is after all referring to the likes of Marianne Vos and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, amongst others. That pair have 26 world titles and three Olympic gold medals between them and are two of essentially the most skilled riders within the girls’s peloton.
Visma have been completely satisfied to let Wolff lead the staff in Wevelgem and are hopeful for the way she will be able to carry out when she joins up with Vos and Ferrand-Prévot on the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.
“She’s roughly our major rider, so we made a plan for Imo to comply with the very best [in Gent-Wevelgem],” Visma DS Jan Boven informed Cyclingnews.
“It is a bit thrilling additionally when you’re 19 and you’re the major lady of Visma-Lease a Bike, that’s already one thing. Nevertheless it’s additionally good to race like that at Flanders, she is with Pauline and Marianne.”
Wolff has already raced alongside them as Milan-San Remo, and already realized a useful lesson of self-expression in racing.
“To be sincere, you overlook what icons they’re as a result of they’re simply such humble, down-to-earth, open and sincere individuals they usually’re good to be round,” mentioned Wolff.
“They’re fairly totally different too, in order that’s good simply to see which you could win enormous bike races, and you do not have to be a stereotypical, tremendous centered, one model of a rider.
“Several types of personalities and various kinds of riders can win on totally different programs, and that is been very nice to know that I can simply totally be myself and let the efficiency on the bike converse a bit for itself.”
Importantly for the teenage rider is that the stress is usually off for her neo-pro season, after reaching her objective of a primary professional win so early. That does not imply she’ll take her foot off the accelerator anytime quickly however anticipate some freedom and extra early management to assist her growth.
“To be sincere, in the beginning of this season, we set just one objective, and that was that I wished to win a motorcycle race this yr – we have carried out that,” Wolff informed Cyclingnews.
“However I believe on the greater image, if I might be part of a staff that wins a motorcycle race like Roubaix, a motorcycle race like Flanders or helps Pauline within the GC for any of the Grand Excursions, that is one thing I’ve dreamed of since I used to be very younger.”
