Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig has turned the page on an injury and illness-plagued 2024 season, rejuvenated by a move to Canyon-SRAM and her upcoming partnership with Kasia Niewiadoma.
After sustaining a sacrum fracture at Omloop Het Nieuwsbald in February, Uttrup Ludwig struggled to get 'back in the fun end of the races' between May and the end of the season when she returned.
For one of the peloton's most charismatic figures, 2025 brings a clean slate after a disappointing final year of five on FDJ-Suez, with the German squad landing her signature back in October.
Canyon-SRAM felt a ready-made fit for the Dane when they began talks at the start of 2024, and after joining up with her new teammates and staff for the first time in person last week at the team's training camp in Monchique, Portugal, Uttrup Ludwig is "more motivated than ever."
"It was early in the year that we just started chatting on a few video calls, and it just seemed like the perfect fit," Uttrup Ludwig told Cyclingnews.
"They seem like they want to develop riders and I'm getting older, but I still think I can get better. They thought I would be a good fit for the team and likewise, when I finished the calls, I just couldn't stop smiling. I knew this was the right team for me."
"I had a good feeling and I just cannot wait till we start racing because that's what I love so much about Canyon-SRAM, how they attack and are not afraid of losing."
One essential for Uttrup Ludwig in making the move, however, was that Niewiadoma – the reigning Tour de France Femmes champion – was aware of her incoming arrival and on-board with the idea of a partnership.
"It was, to be honest, a wish from both of them that when they joined this team, the other one was here as well," Canyon-SRAM team boss Ronny Lauke told Cyclingnews, also speaking from the Algarve training camp.
"Both had an equal idea that they wanted to be part of this team. But even more, it was important that the other rider was on the team. They wanted to race together, so I'm looking forward to that duet."
Uttrup Ludwig believes they can make for a double act among the women's peloton's strongest, alongside a stacked group of young climbers and stars on the German team - Neve Bradbury, Antonia Niedermaier and Chloé Dygert among them.
With a two-year deal extension for the Pole and the same length of contract offered to the Dane, they'll bring their panache-personified best to the racing until at least the end of 2026.
"100%, it was super important for me that Kasia was in on the idea. I actually called her, and we sat down together because, for this to work, it needs to go both ways that we both want this," explained Uttrup Ludwig.
"I feel we can be so strong together as a team, as well as with the young climbers there's just so much like firepower. But they just needed to be in on the idea of the counter-attacking and I think that can be a real strength of ours next year."
It was too early for Uttrup Ludwig to know her full 2025 schedule, although she confirmed it wouldn't start in Australia as it did last year with a stage win at the Tour Down Under. However, as a former stage winner, the Tour de France Femmes is an obvious goal, and for Canyon-SRAM to retain it after a whirlwind women's transfer window, squad depth is going to be vital.
Uttrup Ludwig didn't change team because of the arrival of Dutch star Demi Vollering, but with FDJ-Suez vastly improving their squad, and despite the returns of Anna van der Breggen and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to the women's peloton, she thinks Canyon-SRAM will be up to the challenge.
"[Niewiadoma] is obviously the defending champion, so I would have to help her there. But I'm also looking forward to the Spring Classics and just being that strong force, to be attacking and counter-attacking with each other," she said.
"It's gonna be so insane next year. I'm just so excited because this was really a transfer season. There are just so many good riders changing teams and really good riders coming back.
"You'll really need to bring your A-game to the races. Also, just in general, women's cycling is growing so much, that winning races is getting harder and harder. But that's a good thing, that's what we want, right?"
Getting back to top form 'before the chaos starts'
Uttrup Ludwig is one of several new arrivals at Canyon-SRAM, alongside sprinter Chiara Consonni and Unbound Gravel winner Rosa Klöser, with a new sponsor also on board for 2025 – Zondacrypto, a Central and Eastern European cryptocurrency exchange marketplace.
The Dane settled in well during the 10-day Portugal camp, with the exciting part – the racing – still yet to come from January 1 onwards, when she'll finally be allowed to don her new race kit.
"It's nice to be back on the bike again, and it's super cool to be here with Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, so life is good," she said.
"The vibe is so chilled and everyone is just having fun. That's what December camp is all about, getting to know each other, with no big pressure and just slowly building up that form towards the season start. It's refreshing."
With a new coach at Canyon, Uttrup Ludwig has just been building up her base ahead of the reintroduction of high-intensity training for the important parts of the calendar. She's rarely seen the form that took her to a win in Australia last January since her crash at Omloop and isn't desperate to rush her rediscovery of it.
"At the moment, it's just a lot of base kilometres. I want to get back to the high-intensity intervals and stuff, but my coach is like 'Hold your horses because we can still wait for that in the new year'," Uttrup Ludwig said.
"It's going really smoothly, the training so far, so I'm just enjoying it. It's also a good period to just train, have fun and be happy because the season is so intense. You really need to charge those batteries before the chaos starts."
Upon reflection, the Dane described 2024 as one of her toughest seasons since starting her senior career back in 2014. Aside from the fractured sacrum, further races just saw continued setbacks.
"2024 was probably one of the hardest years in my career. Coming back from the fracture was really hard, and it took a long time for that to heal and for me to even be able to be back on the bike training," recalled Uttrup Ludwig. "I tried to be positive, even though I just felt like I was on the back foot all the time, just behind, and definitely not my best.
"It's obviously not ideal to have an off-season in the middle of the season and then I was trying to come back while everyone's getting stronger. 2024 was a struggle year, and me just trying to find my old level and get back in the fun end of the races.
"I've closed 2024 and I'm happy to put that behind me. I really needed that off-season to refresh my mind and to really recharge because it was mentally super hard. But I feel more motivated than ever to come back to my old level, have fun on the bike, attack, and be the rider that I strive to be."
