Tour de France revelation brings versatility, strength and leadership to the Women's WorldTour as top-tier team bolsters roster for the mountains and the sprints
Silvia Persico powers to third place atop La Super Planche des Belles at the Tour de France Femmes(Image credit: Getty Images)
The 25-year-old brings an impressive range of strength in the sprints and mountains as she takes the next step in her career with a leadership role on the Women's WorldTour.
Perisco turned heads when she secured the bronze medal at the 2022 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships and then went on to finish in the top 10 at Strade Bianche, Trofeo Alfredo Binda, Gent-Wevelgem, and third overall at Ceratizit Festival Elsy Jacobs, seventh overall at Vuelta a Burgos, RideLondon, and Giro d'Italia Donne.
At the Tour de France Femmes, she finished seven of the eight stages inside the top 10 - although relegated for dangerous sprinting on stage 6 - and was fifth overall, a performance that she said secured her a three-year contract on a WorldTour team that will take her through 2025.
Perisco follows her longtime coach and director at Valcar Travel & Service, Davide Arzeni, who also moved up to the WorldTour with UAE Team ADQ. Arzeni, who joins General Manager Rubens Bertogliati, and directors Alejandro Gonzalez-Tablas, Cristina San Emeterio, Marcello Albasini, Nicolas Marche, Michele Devoti, Giuseppe Lanzoni, and coaches Simone Casonato and Luca Zenti, aims to elevate the project that finished seventh in the UCI World Ranking and eighth in Women's WorldTour team ranking.
The team has lost seven riders, including heavy-hitter Mavi Garcia, who transferred to Liv Racing TeqFind. But within the fluctuations of the transfer market, the team has gained eight new riders: Chiara Consonni, Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini, Olivia Baril, and Karolina Kumiega, all from Valcar Travel & Service, along with powerful climbers Alena Amialiusik and Mikayla Harvey, both from Canyon-SRAM, and Elizabeth Holden from Le Col-Wahoo.
The 2023 UAE Team ADQ new jersey (Image credit: UAE Team ADQ)
Returning to the team are Marta Bastianelli, who secured four wins last season, along with Anna Trevisi, UAE road race and time trial champion Safia al Sayegh, Sofia Bertizzolo, Eugenia Bujak, Alena Ivanchenko, Erica Magnaldi, and Laura Tomasi for a total of 16 riders.
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In the mountains, Persico has proven herself a contender finishing sixth on stage 7 at Le Markstein and third on stage 8 atop La Super Planche des Belles Filles, and together with Amialiusik, Harvey, Magnaldi, Holden and Baril, they form a powerful team when the road goes uphill.
In the sprints, Persico has also proven that she is a contender in the one-day races and undoubtedly in the Classics, but watch out for her compatriot and former World Champion Bastianelli to lead the team in bigger one-day races and flatter stage races. The team's sprint team has also improved with the addition of Consonni and Gasparrini, alongside Tomasi and Trevisi, which will be tough to beat lead-out.
Marta Bastianelli's pending retirement has been placed on hold, and she has extended her contract and will race with UAE Team ADQ for another seasonin 2023. The 35-year-old Italian won seven races last year and aims to continue her success for one more season before deciding on her future in the sport. The 2007 World Champion excels in many Spring Classics while carefully selecting stage races throughout her season. She has secured career victories at the Tour of Flanders, Gent-Wevelgem, Ronde van Drenthe, Vårgårda WestSweden and European Championships, and at the Giro d'Italia Donne.
Alena Amialiusik and Mikayla Harvey bring much-needed climbing strength to the team, particularly after the departure of Mavi Garcia. Together with Persico, Erica Magnaldi and Oliva Baril, the team has a number of cards to play during the ever-growing number of mountainous stage races throughout the season.
UAE Team ADQ has truly capitalised off of the success of the Valcar Travel & Service development programme bringing in five of the team's bests riders in Silvia Persico, Chiara Consonni, Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini, Olivia Baril, and Karolina Kumiega, along with director Davide Arzeni, who hoped that the second-tier outfit would eventually become a valuable feeder-team to the Women's WorldTour.
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
