2024 Tour de France Femmes podium finisher Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck) has been confirmed on a two-year contract with UAE Team ADQ.
The 32-year-old Dutch cyclist says she will be expecting to work both for the team's leaders and work for individual goals in the coming season.
Rooijakkers is well-known as one of the most consistent top GC performers in the peloton, securing top ten finishes in all three Grand Tours during her career, and with two fourth places overall in the two most recent editions of the Giro d'Italia Women.
However, her biggest result to date is finishing third in the 2024 Tour de France Femmes, the most memorable part of that podium result forged when she finished second behind overall winner Demi Vollering on Alpe d'Huez.
Rooijakkers' result on French cycling's best-known summit finish and GC podium spot rounded out a very successful race for Fenix-Deceuninck, as the team also came home with a Best Young Rider's classfication victory and stage win for Puck Pieterse. For Rooijakkers, it was another top result in her best season to date.
As for why she has moved on to UAE Team ADQ after so much success at Fenix-Deceuninck, Rooijakkers said in a press release that “UAE Team ADQ has shown a very professional structure and clear ambitions, with strong leaders like Elisa Longo Borghini and a constant focus on winning.
"The team’s vision, the way they work, and their attention to detail convinced me that this was the right place to continue my career.”
“I see myself as a hardworking support rider for the team, but also as someone who can show her strengths, especially in the mountains. My main goal for the new season is to be there for my teammates in the biggest races, like the Giro and the Tour.
Rooijakkers’ presence in UAE Team ADQ will provide a major boost to their GC and stage racing firepower against the teams that dominated the Tour de France Femmes overall, like Visma-Lease a Bike and FDJ-Suez. Equally, it will give the squad another card to play in the Giro, too, alongside this year's winner and future teammate Elisa Longo Borghini.
" Of course, I also aim to stay consistent and achieve strong personal performances," Rooijakkers said, "but the team’s success always comes first.”
