Sandra Alonso will join LABORAL Kutxa-Euskadi for the 2027 season on a one-year contract, completing a return to top-level professional cycling after becoming a mother in December 2025.
The 28-year-old Spaniard resumed racing this season with Eneicat and has quickly re-established herself as a competitive force. Her comeback has included third place at the GP Ciudad de Eibar, bronze in the Spanish national time trial, fifth in the road race, ninth at the GP Morbihan and 10th at the Clásica de Navarra.
LABORAL Kutxa-Euskadi confirmed the signing on Friday, making Alonso the team’s fourth new addition for 2027.
For LABORAL Kutxa-Euskadi, the move adds both proven results and significant WorldTour experience to a developing roster.
“Signing for LABORAL Kutxa-Euskadi is a source of pride and the best reward for all the effort I have made this year,” Alonso said. “I feel I still have a lot to offer in cycling and I approach this opportunity with the excitement of someone starting their first year as a professional.”
Alonso has returned at a high level after maternity
Alonso stepped away from racing during 2025 before giving birth in December.
Her return this season has therefore been particularly notable for how quickly she has reached competitive form. ProCyclingUK covered her return to racing with Eneicat-BeCall in April, when she began the next phase of a career that had previously taken her to WorldTour level with Ceratizit.
Rather than simply using 2026 as a rebuilding year, she has already produced a consistent series of top-10 results across one-day races and national championships.
“I have come back stronger, with renewed motivation and having shown a good competitive level,” she said.
That progression is one of the main reasons LABORAL Kutxa-Euskadi believe she can play a significant role immediately in 2027.
Incoming sports manager Ion Lazkano highlighted the speed of her return.
“I would particularly emphasise how quickly Sandra has recovered a very good competitive level after becoming a mother,” he said. “Her desire, enthusiasm and all the effort she has made deserved this reward.”
Classics and medium-mountain races should suit her role
Alonso brings a versatile profile.
She has enough speed to contest reduced finishes, can handle hilly terrain and has previously performed well in demanding one-day races. Her broader career progression and results can be followed on ProCyclingUK’s Sandra Alonso rider page.
Her palmarès includes stage victories at the Tour of Guangxi and Thüringen Ladies Tour. Alonso’s 2024 win in China was her first Women’s WorldTour victory, with ProCyclingUK covering her Tour of Guangxi triumph after she delivered the biggest win of her career.
Earlier that season, she had also won the final stage of the Thüringen Ladies Tour.
Alonso has also shown that she can handle the hardest one-day races, most notably with 10th at Paris-Roubaix Femmes in 2022. That experience should be particularly useful if LABORAL Kutxa-Euskadi give her another opportunity on the cobbles in 2027.
“I think the team and its needs fit perfectly with what she is looking for: a good calendar and opportunities in Classics-type races or medium-mountain events,” Lazkano said.
Paris-Roubaix and the Tour are major targets again
Alonso has already identified two of the races she most wants to return to.
“Among my major objectives is to race Paris-Roubaix again, a unique and historic event that I have very fond memories of since finishing 10th in 2022,” she said.
The race remains one of the hardest on the women’s calendar, with ProCyclingUK’s Paris-Roubaix Femmes coverage following the evolution of a race increasingly defined by longer and more demanding cobbled sectors.
Alonso also wants another opportunity at the Tour de France Femmes, having completed each of its first three editions.
That experience would also be valuable to LABORAL Kutxa-Euskadi, who returned to the Tour in 2026 with a squad led by Usoa Ostolaza. ProCyclingUK covered the team’s 2026 Tour de France Femmes selection ahead of the race.
Those ambitions underline that the move is not simply about returning to a larger team environment.
Alonso still wants to race at the highest level and believes her best performances may not yet be behind her.
“I feel I still have a lot to offer in cycling,” she said.
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Photo Credit: Getty
Experience should be valuable to a young LABORAL Kutxa-Euskadi squad
The other important part of the signing is what Alonso can contribute away from her own results.
She raced at WorldTour level with Ceratizit between 2022 and 2025 and has experience of major Classics, the Giro, Tour de France Femmes and Vuelta.
That makes her a potentially valuable reference point for a LABORAL Kutxa-Euskadi roster containing several younger riders.
“After several years in the WorldTour, I hope to bring all that experience to a group full of young talents, especially Basque riders, to guide them, continue growing together and achieve great results,” Alonso said.
That balance between experienced signings and younger development has been a recurring part of the team’s roster construction. Riders such as Irati Aranguren represent the longer-term Basque pathway, while more established additions give the team greater depth and experience around them.
Lazkano expects Alonso to become one of the team’s leading riders in terms of results.
“Her maximum level is still to come and I am convinced that she will be a reference point for LABORAL Kutxa-Euskadi in 2027.”
Alonso becomes the team’s fourth signing for 2027
Alonso is the fourth confirmed addition to LABORAL Kutxa-Euskadi for next season, following Maier Olano, Ayala Serrano and Maite Urteaga.
Her arrival gives the team a different type of signing from those younger additions.
Alonso already knows what racing at WorldTour level requires and should be capable of providing immediate results while helping less experienced team-mates develop around her.
There is also a wider significance to her return.
After stepping away from the sport to have a child, Alonso has come back strongly enough to earn another opportunity at a higher level within a year.
The move will be tracked alongside the other confirmed 2027 deals in ProCyclingUK’s women’s cycling transfers hub.
Her 2027 season will now be about turning an impressive comeback into something more permanent and proving that the strongest phase of her career may still be ahead.
