Heidi Franz will remain with St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93 for the 2027 season after agreeing a one-year contract extension with the French Women’s ProTeam.
The 31-year-old American joined the team for 2026 after the collapse of Cynisca Cycling left her searching for another contract at the end of last season. One year later, the situation is considerably more stable, with Franz now confirmed for a second campaign in Aubervilliers.
“I am so excited to stay with the team for another year,” Franz said.
“I feel so at home with this team and I am grateful to have their trust. It’s a special atmosphere with this group, and the mindset of curiosity and growth is one that inspires me to keep moving forward and improving. I am really looking forward to next season!”
Photo Credit: Thomas BraunFranz secures another year after uncertainty at the end of 2025
The extension is particularly significant given where Franz stood less than 12 months ago.
She ended 2025 without a team after Cynisca Cycling announced that it would pause operations for 2026 because of a sponsorship shortfall. Franz had produced one of her strongest seasons, including a stage victory at the Volta a Portugal Feminina and 13th at the Gravel World Championships, but still found herself needing to prove that she belonged in the professional peloton.
Her situation at the time was covered in more detail after she finished 13th at the 2025 Gravel World Championships while facing another contract search.
Franz eventually secured her place with Auber93 in December, signing for the 2026 season and adding experience to a roster that was itself entering a period of change.
The new deal means she will not have to repeat that uncertainty this winter.
Tour de France Femmes marked a major step in 2026
Franz’s first season with St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93 has included a return to some of the biggest races in women’s cycling.
She was part of the team’s Tour de France Femmes squad, one of four American riders in the race alongside Kristen Faulkner, Lily Williams and Natalie Quinn. That selection represented an important reward after the instability surrounding the end of 2025.
It also reflected the broader role Franz has taken within the team.
She has never been a rider defined by one type of race. Her strengths have generally come through aggressive riding, reading the race well and being prepared to work from distance rather than relying on one specific finishing scenario.
That was visible during the spring. At La Flèche Wallonne Femmes, Franz was among the riders trying to animate the race before the decisive climbs, while she was again active at Liège-Bastogne-Liège as St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93 looked to put riders into moves rather than wait for the favourites to dictate everything.
Her rider profile reflects a career built across several different teams and roles rather than around one single speciality.
Experience matters in a changing Auber93 roster
Franz also gives St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93 continuity at an important point in the team’s development.
The organisation confirmed earlier this year that it will focus its professional future on the women’s team from 2027, ending its long-standing men’s professional project and concentrating resources on building the women’s squad.
That has already led to significant movement in the transfer market.
India Grangier has extended through 2027, while Cristina Tonetti has signed a two-year deal through 2028 as the team continues adding depth for next season.
Franz fits a different part of that picture.
At 31, she brings experience from years spent racing across Europe and North America, but she is not being retained simply as a senior presence. Her ability to race aggressively and contribute in support roles gives the team flexibility across the Classics and stage races.
That combination becomes more useful as the roster grows younger and more ambitious.
Franz has repeatedly had to rebuild her career
Stability has not always been easy to find.
Franz has raced for Rally Cycling, InstaFund Racing, Zaaf Cycling, DNA Pro Cycling, Lifeplus-Wahoo and Cynisca Cycling before joining Auber93.
Several of those chapters ended in circumstances outside her control. Zaaf’s financial problems forced riders to find new teams during the 2023 season, while Lifeplus-Wahoo later closed at the end of 2024. Cynisca then paused operations one year later.
Franz has therefore spent a significant part of her career adapting to situations where strong racing was not always enough to guarantee the following season.
That context helps explain the tone of her latest announcement.
“I feel so at home with this team and I am grateful to have their trust,” she said.
For a rider who has repeatedly had to search for a new place in the peloton, being retained because a team actively wants to continue the relationship carries obvious weight.
Auber93 continue building around aggressive racing
St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93 have increasingly built their identity around riders prepared to race proactively.
Alison Jackson gives them an experienced Classics leader with one of the biggest wins in the sport on her palmarès, while younger riders have been given room to attack and develop rather than being restricted to defensive roles.
Franz fits naturally into that approach.
She may not enter many races as the team’s designated leader, but she is useful precisely because she can make a race harder before the finale, cover moves and create tactical options for others.
That kind of work is difficult to quantify through results alone.
It is also the sort of role that becomes increasingly valuable as Auber93 try to move their women’s programme forward in 2027.
The team have made clear that the women’s squad is now the professional priority. Retaining experienced riders who understand the structure while adding younger talent gives them a more stable base from which to build.
Franz will be part of that next phase.
After spending last autumn fighting to remain in the professional peloton, she enters this one with her future already settled.
“I am really looking forward to next season,” she said.
