It is perhaps the most striking transfer looking ahead to 2026: Filippo Fiorelli leaving Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizane for a new adventure with Visma | Lease a Bike. For the 30-year-old Italian, the interest from the Dutch top team came as a complete surprise, as he reveals in an interview with Bici.PRO.
Fiorelli made his pro debut in 2020 for (then) Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè. Riding for this team, he has achieved numerous podium finishes and one professional victory over the past years. His only pro win so far came in 2022 on Romanian soil, at the Sibiu Cycling Tour. However, Fiorelli is mainly known for his many top placings. In fact, he scored fifteen top-ten finishes in the past road season alone.
A Different Dimension
Those are impressive statistics, yet Fiorelli did not anticipate interest from one of the top teams of the moment. “If someone had told me at the start of this year that Visma | Lease a Bike would contact me after the Giro d’Italia, I honestly would’ve slapped them in the face. I would have thought they were joking with me.”
Filippo Fiorelli“Now that I have my new bike and have already been to the Netherlands for several tests, I’m starting to believe it. [...] No disrespect to VF Group-Bardiani, but Visma | Lease a Bike is really a whole other level. Once you make the step to the pros, everything feels new. That same feeling comes when you sign with a WorldTeam.”
Why did Visma | Lease a Bike ultimately turn to the Italian in their search for reinforcements? “Filippo is a very interesting rider and we are curious to see what he can bring to our team,” explains Head of Racing Grischa Niermann. “We think he will be a strong support for Matthew Brennan in sprint preparation.”
“Besides that, he is also eager to discover the spring classics. Both in sprint lead-outs and the classics, this will definitely be in a different, more supportive role than what he’s used to now. We are confident that he can make great strides in that role and that he fits well within our team.”[/wftk_box]
Laporte as a Role Model
Fiorelli hopes to further develop himself in the service of the yellow-black squad and especially looks up to Christophe Laporte. The Frenchman was considered a very good rider during his Cofidis years but truly made the leap to the world elite when riding for Visma | Lease a Bike. “And there are more riders with similar qualities who have become much better thanks to new training methods, improved nutrition, and attention to detail.”
At thirty years old, the fast Italian can finally call himself a WorldTour rider, but Fiorelli had to wait a long time for this step. “During the last Giro, I was still speaking with several teams, but nothing came of it. It seemed everyone was waiting for something... After the Giro, I decided to send my TrainingPeaks data (a popular cycling app, ed.) to Alpecin-Deceuninck. The team seemed interested, and suddenly I got a call from my manager.”
Fiorelli as we know him: on the attack – photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
“He said: they’re hiring you. I thought he meant Alpecin, but it turned out to be Visma | Lease a Bike. The team contacted me the week after the Giro, and in early August I was able to sign the contract.”
