Martina Fidanza will leave Team Visma | Lease a Bike at the end of the 2026 season and join St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93 on a two-year contract, giving the French Women’s ProTeam an established international sprinter for 2027 and 2028.
St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93 confirmed Fidanza’s signing on 14 August, with the 26-year-old becoming the second Italian rider already announced for its 2027 roster after Gaia Segato.
Fidanza will complete the second season of the contract she signed with Visma before making the move. She joined Team Visma | Lease a Bike from Ceratizit-WNT ahead of 2025 and has since become an important part of the team’s sprinting group alongside Nienke Veenhoven.
“I’m absolutely delighted to join the team and start this new chapter,” Fidanza said. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for me.”
St Michel add proven sprint speed for 2027
Fidanza’s arrival gives St Michel a rider with both professional road victories and an extensive record at the highest level on the track.
General manager Stephan Gaudry highlighted that combination when announcing the transfer, with the French team expecting Fidanza to receive opportunities to use her speed rather than simply filling a supporting role.
“I’m very happy to welcome Martina Fidanza to the team for the next two seasons,” Gaudry said. “Despite her young age, she has already achieved great victories on the road and has an impressive track record on the track, where she is a key member of the Italian national team.
“She will have the opportunity to showcase her speed in our colours, and I’m looking forward to starting this collaboration.”
Fidanza’s move comes as St Michel prepare to put even greater emphasis on their women’s programme. The organisation announced earlier this season that St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93 will focus its professional future on the women’s team from 2027, making Fidanza’s recruitment part of a significant period of change for the French squad.
Three victories marked Fidanza’s first season with Visma
Fidanza’s first year with Visma provided a clear indication of what she can offer St Michel.
Her first victory in yellow and black came at Festival Elsy Jacobs à Luxembourg, where she survived a progressively selective race before beating Valentine Fortin and Barbara Guarischi in the reduced sprint. ProCyclingUK covered how Fidanza took her first Visma victory at Festival Elsy Jacobs.
Only a week later she won again at the Trofee Maarten Wynants, beating Tereza Neumanová after another nervous and aggressive race. The Trofee Maarten Wynants victory reinforced that Fidanza does not need a completely flat and straightforward approach to the finish to use her sprint successfully.
A third victory followed on the final day of the 2025 Baloise Ladies Tour, when Fidanza won the closing stage as Zoe Bäckstedt secured the overall title.
Those performances helped establish Fidanza as one of Visma’s reliable options for reduced bunch finishes and fast one-day races. ProCyclingUK’s Team Visma | Lease a Bike 2026 Women’s WorldTour team guide identified that finishing speed as an important part of a squad otherwise centred around riders including Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Marianne Vos.
Fidanza and Veenhoven developed a genuine sprint partnership
Fidanza’s two seasons at Visma have not solely been about collecting results of her own.
She has formed an effective partnership with Veenhoven, with the pair capable of switching between lead-out and finishing duties depending on the race. When Veenhoven took her first professional victory at the 2025 Baloise Ladies Tour, it was Fidanza who provided the final pull before her teammate launched the winning sprint.
That relationship became one of Visma’s developing sprint projects, but the two riders will now go in different directions. Veenhoven has already committed her future to Visma through 2028, while Fidanza will look for a new role with St Michel.
Her comments suggest she wants to carry the same collaborative approach into her new team.
“My main goal is to build a real synergy with the team, learn alongside my teammates and contribute as much as possible to our collective success,” Fidanza said.
Track pedigree adds another dimension to the signing
Fidanza’s road sprint is only one part of her racing background.
The Italian has been a major figure in her country’s track programme, particularly in the scratch race and team pursuit, and has already collected world titles on the track. That experience has helped shape the explosive acceleration and positioning skills that have become her biggest assets on the road.
For St Michel, that makes her a particularly useful signing for flat and rolling one-day races where positioning in the final kilometres can be just as decisive as outright sprint speed.
Her best road results have often come from exactly that type of race. Festival Elsy Jacobs and Trofee Maarten Wynants were not simple straight-line bunch sprints after uneventful afternoons. Fidanza had to survive the selection first before using her speed.
-
Photo Credit: Getty
Fidanza follows Gaia Segato into St Michel’s growing Italian group
The signing also continues St Michel’s early recruitment work for 2027.
Fidanza becomes the second Italian confirmed for next season after 22-year-old Gaia Segato, who has agreed her own contract through 2028. ProCyclingUK covered Segato’s move to St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93 earlier in August.
The two riders arrive at different points in their careers. Segato is making her first move outside the Italian team system and remains a developing prospect, while Fidanza brings years of international racing experience, WorldTour exposure and a proven ability to convert sprint opportunities.
Their recruitment comes at an important moment for St Michel. With the organisation directing its professional resources towards the women’s squad from 2027, strengthening the roster before that transition is central to making the strategy work.
Fidanza gives them something immediately tangible: a rider who has already won repeatedly at international level and should be capable of targeting victories from the beginning of her first season.
“I’m really excited about this new adventure,” Fidanza said, “and can’t wait to get started.”
