Letizia Paternoster will leave Liv AlUla Jayco at the end of the 2026 season to join Human Powered Health, signing a two-year contract that will keep the Italian with the team through 2028.
The 27-year-old arrives as one of the more versatile riders in the Women’s WorldTour, combining genuine sprint speed with an increasing ability to survive harder one-day races and selective Grand Tour stages.
That development has been particularly visible during 2026. Paternoster finished fourth at Amstel Gold Race and has increasingly become a rider capable of contesting difficult Classics rather than relying solely on conventional bunch finishes.
Human Powered Health see that combination as an important part of their continued attempt to strengthen their Classics group.
“I can see this team is super unique, and they have a really strong power inside,” Paternoster said in Human Powered Health’s announcement of the transfer.
“I also felt the environment around is really prepared. And the thing that makes me most excited is that they have the potential to be one of the best teams.”
Paternoster adds another Classics option for Human Powered Health
The move fits closely with the direction Human Powered Health have been taking with their 2027 recruitment.
Paternoster has increasingly developed into a rider capable of contesting difficult one-day races where the pure sprinters are put under pressure but the strongest climbers cannot necessarily create decisive separation.
Her fourth place at Amstel Gold Race this spring was particularly significant. As ProCyclingUK noted in its analysis of what the 2026 Amstel Gold Race Women meant for the season, Paternoster’s result was further evidence that she belongs in the conversation on genuinely difficult Classics terrain.
That is precisely the area Human Powered Health want to strengthen.
“She is an incredibly talented and versatile rider, with proven speed and the ability to compete at the highest level,” general manager Ro De Jonckere said.
“One area where we feel we can continue to grow as a team is in the one-day races and the Classics. We believe Letizia can play an important role in helping us take that next step.”
Human Powered Health entered 2026 with considerable depth but without the same concentration of major Classics leaders available to some of the Women’s WorldTour’s biggest teams. The Human Powered Health 2026 team guide identified that next step as one of the obvious areas in which the squad could continue developing.
Their recruitment for 2027 is beginning to address it.
Paternoster’s signing follows the arrivals of Marta Lach and Amalie Dideriksen, giving Human Powered Health considerably more depth for races decided by positioning, short climbs and finishing speed.
Photo Credit: Gregoire CrevierThe spring Classics are Paternoster’s priority
Paternoster has little doubt about where she most wants to make an impact.
“For sure, the spring season is my favourite,” she said.
“I’m really looking already for it. Omloop Nieuwsblad, Flanders and Amstel, that’s my favourite race. So Belgium style and the Netherlands style, and of course the cobbles.”
Those ambitions fit her changing rider profile.
Paternoster has always possessed speed. Her track background and sprinting ability have been obvious throughout her career. What has changed is how deep into demanding races she can now carry that speed.
Amstel was an important example.
Repeated Limburg climbs gradually remove riders who rely on their sprint alone, yet Paternoster remained involved until the decisive phase and finished fourth. Her performance was one of the notable stories from the 2026 Amstel Gold Race Women campaign.
De Jonckere believes that range gives Human Powered Health opportunities across more than one type of Classic.
“Her versatility and ability to perform on more demanding terrain make her a great fit for both the hectic Flemish Classics and the hillier one-day races,” he said.
“We believe she can help put Human Powered Health even more on the map in those events.”
That potentially places races such as Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the Tour of Flanders and Amstel Gold Race at the centre of Paternoster’s first spring with her new team.
Grand Tour performances add another dimension
Paternoster is not being signed simply as a spring Classics specialist.
Her recent Grand Tour performances have shown how useful she can be on stages where the race is difficult enough to remove the fastest sprinters without becoming a contest exclusively for climbers.
That versatility was particularly visible at the 2025 Vuelta Femenina.
Paternoster finished second behind Marianne Vos on Stage 2 and moved into the overall race lead, with ProCyclingUK covering how Paternoster took the red jersey after the wet finish in Sant Boi de Llobregat.
The result demonstrated another side of her value. Bonus seconds, reduced sprints and difficult transitional stages can make a rider with her characteristics extremely useful during a Grand Tour even when she is not targeting the overall classification.
“At the same time, Letizia has shown that she can be competitive in Grand Tours, particularly in those stages where the terrain is demanding and the pure sprinters have been put under pressure before the finish,” De Jonckere said.
“That ability to get over the climbs and still have the speed to compete for the win is something that can be incredibly valuable for us.”
It is probably the clearest description of where Paternoster’s road career now sits.
She is no longer simply a rider waiting for the easiest sprint stages. The harder the road becomes without turning into outright mountain racing, the more valuable her combination of resilience and speed can become.
Human Powered Health project appealed to Paternoster
The team’s wider performance infrastructure was another important part of the move.
Human Powered Health have placed considerable emphasis on testing, coaching and their Performance Lab network as part of the organisation’s longer-term development strategy.
Paternoster believes that environment can help her take another step.
“The approach they have with the testing, and also the bike, all the stuff like that, it’s amazing to see how they are focused on it, and they want to make the best for us,” she said.
“There are also great coaches in the team that can give me something more on my journey.”
She also sees a close connection between her individual ambitions and those of her new team.
“To be part of this big project is, of course, exciting,” Paternoster said.
“For sure they have also big goals, and I feel that there is a good connection with their goal and with my goal to become stronger and to grow, to grow as much as I can.”
That ambition is significant when viewed alongside Human Powered Health’s other recent recruitment.
Dideriksen brings proven Classics experience and finishing speed, while Lach offers another rider capable of remaining competitive across difficult one-day terrain. Paternoster adds a slightly different combination of speed, climbing resistance and track-developed power.
Together, those signings suggest a clear attempt to broaden the number of ways Human Powered Health can influence the major one-day races in 2027.
From track world champion to WorldTour Classics contender
Paternoster’s career has always extended well beyond road racing.
She is a multiple world championship medallist on the track and became world champion in the elimination race in 2021.
Her cycling background began even earlier through BMX and downhill after taking up cycling as a child in northern Italy.
“I was always touching a bike,” she recalled.
“When I was on the bike, I never wanted to stop pedalling. I felt super happy. And then I improved and, in the end, I was happy because a dream became true.
“To see it back now, I can tell myself, ‘Yeah, good job, Leti. You believed in it, and then you made it happen.’”
That track background remains visible in the speed and acceleration that underpin her road racing, but the development of her climbing and endurance has made her increasingly difficult to categorise.
The Letizia Paternoster rider profile charts a career that has moved from elite track success towards an increasingly prominent role in the biggest road races.
At 27, Human Powered Health are also signing a rider who should still have room to improve rather than simply adding experience towards the end of her career.
Paternoster leaves Liv AlUla Jayco after four seasons
Paternoster joined the GreenEDGE organisation for the 2023 season after three years with Trek-Segafredo.
She subsequently extended her contract with Liv AlUla Jayco through the end of 2026, but her move to Human Powered Health will bring that four-season spell to an end.
Those years have coincided with an important evolution in her road career.
There was the red jersey at the Vuelta Femenina, a return to winning through her 2024 Tour de Gatineau victory and, increasingly, evidence that she can survive deeper into races where climbing and attrition reduce the influence of pure sprint speed.
Her fourth place at Amstel this year may ultimately prove one of the most important results in that progression.
Human Powered Health are effectively betting that there is more to come.
Paternoster can sprint, attack, survive short climbs and provide another option during Grand Tours. For a team deliberately trying to become more competitive across the Classics, that versatility has obvious value.
“Inside me, I have a lot of determination. I can give back to the team,” Paternoster said.
“I’m really, really hungry to take a lot of dreams and bring this on the team and give motivation to everybody to go for it.”
From 2027, those ambitions will be pursued in Human Powered Health colours.
