EF-Autoly-Cannondale strengthens its second-season roster at the continental level by signing Swiss road race champion Noemi Lueg to a three-year contract extension and adding Dutch U23 standard bearer Babette van der Wolff through 2025

The team has also added a new player to its roster.

Next year's roster is full of young talent, with seven players under the age of 26. Ruegg and van der Wolf will be key riders supporting the full Classic campaign in the spring. Roy signed a one-year contract with EF Autry last week.

Ruegg was one of the first five riders on the newly formed Continental women's team for the 2024 season. She quickly emerged and took the team's first win on the first day of the Challenge Mallorca Femenina at Trofeo Felanitx-Colònia de Sant Jordi.

This was not only the team's first win, but also Ruegg's first professional win, and she finished second two days later at Trofeo Binisalem-Andratx.

“The atmosphere on this team was really special, something I had never experienced before. I feel very welcome in the team,” said Rüeg, who started his professional career at Kogeas Mettler at the age of 19. 'It's easier to perform when you're surrounded by good people.'

For Rüeg, a two-time Swiss junior champion, 2024 was a great season. She won the national title in the elite women's road race and finished seventh in the road race at her first Olympics. The two seasons before that, she was a member of Jumbo Visma, finishing third overall at the AG Tour de la Semois and eighth overall at the Ride London Classic.

“I received a lot of support from the team this year. They gave me the opportunity to compete in the final race and I made a lot of mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes, because otherwise you can't learn. The team gave me confidence.

Van der Wolf, along with fellow Dutch standout Miele Knaven, will be the youngest riders on the team next season, turning pro with Lifeplus Wahoo in 2023. This season she has seven top-10 finishes in one-day races, including third at the Antwerp Port Epic, and three top-10s on the Baloise Ladies Tour.

She also finished 12th in the UCI Gravel World Series Sea Otter Europe, proving her valuable skills as a one-day racer on all surfaces.

“2023 was a really great experience, starting with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, then the Tour of Flanders, and then the Tour de France, it's really crazy to be racing in the Tour de France at 18.”

“Just being there and racing at the highest level is incredible, and in a lot of races I try to help all my teammates.

Meanwhile, she also gained experience on the track, winning gold in the junior Madison race with Nienke Feenhofen; at the 2024 European Track Championships, she finished in the top 10 in the points and elimination races.

“I'm the type of person who races with heart. I don't have the biggest engine in the race, but I have a vision of how the race is going to unfold, so I can react quickly or tell my teammates what is about to happen and respond,” she said in an EF-Autory Cannondale press release. [I get excited when it's windy. I love hard echelon days. Add to that the cobblestones and punchy climbs. I love hard racing.”