Arlenis Sierra will leave Movistar Team at the end of the 2026 season and join Lidl-Trek on a two-year contract running through 2028, with the Cuban recruited to strengthen the sprint train around Elisa Balsamo.
The 33-year-old brings more than a decade of experience at the top level and a racing profile that extends well beyond conventional lead-out work. Sierra has won one-day races, stages and national titles, while her combination of positioning, punch and finishing speed has kept her competitive across a wide range of terrain.
Lidl-Trek see those qualities as particularly valuable around Balsamo. The Italian remains one of the team’s major finishers and has enjoyed a strong 2026 season, with multiple Giro d’Italia Women stage victories and further wins at races including the Classic Lorient Agglomération and Egmont Cycling Race Women.
Sierra will be expected to help put Balsamo into position in those finales while still receiving opportunities of her own when the race suits her.
“Joining Lidl-Trek will be a new experience for me, but I’m very happy to be able to do it,” Sierra said. “I’m excited to know I have a new opportunity.”
Sierra adds experience to Lidl-Trek’s sprint structure
The emphasis on Sierra’s lead-out role gives the transfer a clear purpose.
Lidl-Trek already have one of the strongest sprinters in the women’s peloton in Balsamo, but building a reliable final-kilometre structure around her remains just as important as the finishing speed itself.
Sierra brings years of experience reading races and moving through the peloton, qualities that become especially valuable when a sprint is being shaped before the final kilometre rather than simply in the last 200 metres.
Women’s Team Manager Frank Schleck believes she can make an immediate difference.
“One of the areas where we believe Arlenis can make an immediate difference is alongside Elisa Balsamo,” he said. “Strengthening our lead-out and giving Elisa the best possible support in the finals is an important priority for us.”
The move gives Sierra a clearly defined job without reducing her to a single purpose.
Her ProCyclingUK rider profile reflects a career built around far more than sprint support, with Sierra regularly capable of surviving hilly races and still competing at the finish.
Balsamo remains a central part of Lidl-Trek’s plans
Balsamo’s 2026 season shows why Lidl-Trek are investing further in the structure around her.
She won repeatedly at the Giro d’Italia Women, including stage 2 in Caorle and another sprint victory the following day in Buja.
Later in the season she added victory at the Classic Lorient Agglomération, beating Mischa Bredewold from a reduced group after a demanding finale in Plouay.
Her Elisa Balsamo rider profile already reflects a career that has combined pure sprints with success in selective Classics, and that variety shapes the sort of lead-out Lidl-Trek need.
A rider supporting Balsamo cannot simply be quick on a flat road. She also needs to survive the harder racing that often precedes the sprint.
Sierra fits that requirement.
Sierra remains capable of taking her own opportunities
Lidl-Trek have been clear that Sierra is not being signed solely as a domestique.
Her punch on short climbs and ability to finish from reduced groups have been central to her career, while her experience allows her to adapt when races become less predictable.
Schleck described that flexibility as one of the attractions of the signing.
“We don’t see Arlenis only as a lead-out rider,” he said. “She remains a rider capable of taking her own opportunities and delivering results when the race suits her.”
That could be particularly useful across the Classics and smaller stage races where Lidl-Trek may not start with one obvious leader.
Sierra has spent the last five seasons with Movistar Team after joining the Spanish squad in 2022. The move to Lidl-Trek therefore represents a substantial change after one of the longest spells of her career with a single team.
She acknowledged some uncertainty around that change, but also described the move as an opportunity to refresh several parts of her racing.
“I’m excited to know I have a new opportunity, with some apprehension about the changes but also a lot of enthusiasm for something new,” she said.
Mediterranean Games win showed Sierra still has finishing speed
Sierra’s 2026 season included victory at the Mediterranean Games in August, giving her a useful reminder of her own ability to finish races rather than simply help set them up.
That result matters in the context of her new role.
Lead-out riders who still retain their own sprint are particularly valuable because rivals cannot always assume they will sacrifice themselves completely. It also gives Lidl-Trek another option if Balsamo is absent or a race becomes too selective for the team’s original plan.
Sierra wants to continue developing rather than simply moving into the final phase of her career as an experienced support rider.
“I think I’d like to grow mainly in teaching training methods and in my own training, as well as knowing that I can also do good work for the team in general,” she said.
Her experience should also matter within a squad containing several younger riders.
The Lidl-Trek 2026 Women’s WorldTour team guide highlighted a roster balancing established leaders with a growing development group, and Sierra should fit naturally into that structure.
Lidl-Trek continue building around established leaders
Sierra becomes another piece of Lidl-Trek’s planning for 2027 and beyond.
The team have already spent recent seasons managing the transition away from long-standing figures such as Lizzie Deignan and Ellen van Dijk, while placing greater responsibility on riders including Balsamo, Niamh Fisher-Black and the Holmgren sisters.
Sierra does not replace those former leaders directly.
Instead, she provides the sort of experience that becomes increasingly important as a younger roster develops around clearly defined leaders.
Her contract through 2028 gives Lidl-Trek two seasons to integrate her into Balsamo’s sprint structure while still allowing Sierra opportunities in races where her own punch and finishing speed can matter.
For Sierra, the transfer offers a fresh environment after five years with Movistar.
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Photo Credit: Getty
For Lidl-Trek, it addresses a specific need without adding a one-dimensional rider.
And for Balsamo, it provides another experienced wheel to follow when the biggest sprints of 2027 begin to take shape.
