“A fresh start, a clean slate” – Out of the shadow of Vollering and Kopecky, Niamh Fisher-Black is ready to win
Cycling
Niamh Fisher-Black, the 24-year-old from Nelson, New
Zealand, has taken a significant step in her career by leaving Team SD
Worx - Protime to join Lidl-Trek. Fisher-Black, who won the New Zealand national
championship back in 2020, is eager to see how far she can develop in her new
environment.
“I'm really motivated to see what the potential is there,”
Fisher-Black told Cyclingnews. “I think it's difficult to become a GC rider, I
still need to grow a lot and there are a lot of things I need to work on, and
it takes a lot of support and not just expecting to be given that support, but
also learning to demand that support.”
She also recognises the importance of leadership within the
sport. “Also learning to be a leader and that's, I think, what a lot of really
good cyclists or athletes forget – that this is a team sport. And firstly, I
need to grow as a person, and that's my next step, get to know this team and
see if maybe I could go into that role.”
Fisher-Black joined SD Worx as a young rider and, despite
valuable experiences, felt she needed a change to progress. “With a fresh
start, a clean slate, it's a really nice way for me to make that step. I mean,
I joined SD Worx as a young girl and I think I was always going to be that
young girl to them. A new environment maybe gives me a new opportunity to step
outside of that box.”
While at SD Worx-Protime, Fisher-Black rode alongside stars
like Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering. Despite Vollering’s departure, the team
remains strong with the return of the legendary Anna van der Breggen. Yet,
Fisher-Black insists she was never deprived of chances at SD Worx.
“I say it over and over, I don't think that I ever didn't
get opportunity on SD Worx, and at the end of the day, if you want to be at the
top of the sport, it's not about what opportunities you're given, you have to
show that you're good enough,” she explained.
“I was amongst some of the best riders in the world, and if
I wanted to be at the top of the world and be at the pointy end of the races, I
had to be as good as them, if not better.”
Fisher-Black believes that being surrounded by elite
athletes helped push her limits. “It was a challenge that motivated me and
plenty of opportunities came for me along the way – I got breakaways and I
remember wearing countless leaders jerseys in the first years. I don't think
anything was ever taken away from me but maybe that's just my personality,
being around successful people lifted me up as well.”
Why Lidl-Trek?
Her move to Lidl-Trek was a calculated decision, based on
her observations of the team over several years. “I've been in this scene and
raced against this team for four years. You get to know the riders in the
peloton, and you see how the team races,” Fisher-Black explained.
Conversations with team management convinced her to make the
switch. “It was sitting down with the management team and Ina herself and just
having a conversation and I think that's enough. You can gauge what the team's
intentions are and they believed in me and that was motivating.”
Support from her family also played a crucial role in her
decision. “Probably, when we were both going through these decisions last year,
we talked each other through it and helped each other through it. Definitely my
brother helped me, because change is a really scary prospect,” she admitted.
She acknowledged that switching teams is not just a career
move but a transformative experience. “We're both on very, very nice teams but
it's also just as much a new opportunity and a new career direction for him as
it is for me. It's cool that we can do it at the same time and hopefully help
each other as there's some lows, because change is a really, really hard and
changing teams changes a lot.”
Fisher-Black is also optimistic about the evolving landscape
of women's cycling. “This distribution of really great riders is more spread
out, and I think it's really exciting,” she said. “I think that the racing will
be different. It will feel different. There will be different teams on top, and
different riders on top.”
She believes that the increasing level of competition will
push the sport forward. “That excites me because it's going to be a challenge
to start to understand new ways of racing and new people to look for because
every year we see also new talent come through. And even just in the last year,
women's cycling has lifted so much that I will not be surprised to see more and
more that this margin of difference at the top is so small.”
With her three-year contract in place, Fisher-Black is
focused on improving and delivering results. “Every year I just want to get
better and this team has this direction and I can tell being with them, that
just, everything is about improving,” she said. “There's always a way to get
better and that's for me really motivating and that's also why we see our sport
going so much faster and the level lifting higher and higher.”
Looking ahead, Fisher-Black is eager to contribute to
Lidl-Trek’s success. “Lidl-Trek have given me a really great opportunity with
three years and I hope to pay it back. That means winning some races and
hopefully stepping up to be a GC rider for them, and also supporting their
other GC riders and really playing with Gaia Realini. I really look forward to
that.”
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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