Canyon-SRAM Generation riders Ricarda Bauernfind and Antonia Niedermeier will step up to the Women's World Team with a two-year contract with Canyon-SRAM Racing beginning in 2023.

The German riders have excelled in races that are part of the international calendar, and both have shown that they are ready to compete at the top level.

"We are proud that in the first year of the Canyon-SRAM Generation," said team manager Ronnie Lauke, "our riders have gone from being competitive in national races to world-class athletes."

[5 The fact that they left their footprints in the races early in the season, regularly podiumed and won UCI category competitions in the second half of the season, and medaled at the UCI Road World Championships, shows that this step is appropriate and necessary not only for the further development of the individual athletes, but also for the growth of the sport proves that it is a necessary step"

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Canyon-Slam is one of the first World Tour teams to officially register a development team called Canyon-Slam Generation as part of the two-tier program that debuted this season. The team recruited eight riders, including Olivia Sirilifa, Fatima Deborah Conte, Agua Marina Espinola, Valentine Nzayisenga, Siti Nur Alia Mansour, and Rioi Sharp.

Bauernfind, 22, finished on the podium in all three stages and overall at the Vuelta Ciclista Andalucía Ruta del Sol, fifth in a stage and overall at the Thuringian Ladies Tour, a stage at the Tour Feminine International de Pyrenees and third overall, and a stage finish at the Tour de l'Ardèche.

He also won national under-23 titles in the time trial and road race and time trial at the European Championships, and finished the season with two bronze medals in the under-23 road race and time trial at the World Championships in Australia.

"I am proud to step up to Canyon-SRAM Racing for the next two years...Five years ago, I had a dream of becoming a World Tour rider, but at the same time I recognized that I wasn't ready for it. I did other things and studied in college. Now that I have a contract with the World Tour, I know I made the right decision. I can't wait for the season to start," Bauernfind said.

Competing for a season as part of a development team allowed her to take slow steps and progress confidently toward the highest levels of the sport, with an eye toward big races on the calendar like the Tour de France Femme Avec Zwift He noted.

"The Canyon-SRAM Generation has helped me learn how to race. I competed in higher level races with more racers in the group. The races encouraged us to be brave and try new tactics. As a team we learned how to be professional cyclists and how everyone on the team grew and learned different things from each other. [This year was] an incredible year. In my first year as a professional cyclist, I never thought I would achieve so many great results. In every race I was motivated to do my best and have fun at the same time. I received the best support from the Canyon-SRAM Generation team including riders, staff, sponsors, coaches, and family. I want to thank them all from the bottom of my heart.

"My motivation for next season is great. I want to help my teammates achieve good results and enjoy racing. I still have a lot to learn but I am confident that I have the best team and teammates around to help me improve. My goal is to grow as a rider and as a person and to compete in big stage races like the Giro d'Italia Donnay and Tour de France Femme with Zwift in the next two years."

Niedermeier, 19, who won a bronze medal in the junior women's time trial at the 2021 World Championships, completed her high school education earlier this season before joining the Canyon SRAM Generation in June.

She finished second in Spain's Clasica de Laros and won a silver medal in the under-23 road race at the national championships. In his best performance of the season, Niedermeier won two stages, the youth class, and the overall at the Tour de l'Ardèche.

"I am very excited about this new step. I think a lot of challenges await me. I am looking forward to racing with a big team."

"I am looking forward to racing bigger races. I am looking forward to some great stage races because I want to push my limits every day, over and over again. My personal goal is to do a great job for the team and to finish well in some races."

Niedermeier is a two-sport athlete, cycling in the summer and ski mountaineering in the winter. She also said she learned a lot about racing tactics and communication through one season of bicycle racing at the developmental level.

"Coming from a ski mountaineering background, it was important for her to learn these things in smaller races with less outside pressure. It was a great year to get into this sport. It was also important to see how the sport of professional cycling works and learn a lot of new things," she said.

She will continue to race ski mountaineering throughout the winter, starting with her first race in January and finishing at the World Championships in Boi Tauru, Spain, in early March.

"My coach helps me balance both sports. It's going well and I have a good balance between rest and training so I don't put too much pressure on my body. My main goal this winter is the World Championships, after that I can focus on my cycling goals."

Canyon-SRAM has announced 14 riders for 2023. Among them are new British champions Alice Towers and Myke van der Duyn (both of Le Col-Wahoo), and Agnieszka Charniak Sojka (of ATOM Deweloper Posciellux.pl Wrocław).

Following the Zwift Academy in 2022, 15 riders will eventually be added.