Team DSM confirmed in an interview with Cycling News at the start of stage 2 on Monday that Lorena Wiebes will be leaving Team DSM at the end of the season. Cycling News also spoke with SD Worx team manager Danny Stam. Stam did not deny yesterday's report by AD.nl that the sprinter was breaking his contract early and joining his own team.

"At the end of the day, it's not a very good thing and it's not good for us," said Albert Timmer, sport director of Team DSM. 'She will be gone. She's still here and we still have goals for this season. I think our level of cooperation is good."

Wiebes ended her contract with Parc Hotel Valkenburg early in 2020 and moved to DSM mid-season.

A surprise report by AD.nl during the first stage of the Tour de France Femme revealed that Wiebes would again terminate his contract prematurely and move to SD Walks in 2023.

Timmer did not know the details of this transfer, but DSM reportedly showed no interest in the offer.

Danny Stam did not deny Vives' transfer, but expressed disappointment at the reported news; under UCI rules, a team cannot announce the signing of a new competitor until August 1, unless the two teams agree.

"You should ask Thijs Zonneveld [a reporter for AD]. 'I think he knows more. He seems to know everything."

Lorena Wiebes won the first stage of the Tour de France on the Champs-Elysées this season, her 16th win of the season and cementing her status as the fastest sprinter in the peloton.

A representative from Team DSM told Cycling News that they could not confirm Weaves' destination team, but that they respected her decision, given that "there were offers that we did not want to pass up."

The team later issued the following statement. Of course, we cannot confirm the team to which she will be transferred, but what we can say is that Lorena is an outstanding rider with tremendous sprinting ability. We wanted to continue working with her, but she received an offer that we could not pass up. We are proud of everything the Women's Program has accomplished with Lorena and look forward to closing out the year with even more success."

The team has a second option in sprinter Charlotte Cool, who was part of the Weaves lead-out train this season.

"Of course, Charlotte is also very fast. She's already proven at this year's Giro that she can go really fast. So we can take advantage of that in the coming years."