Who is Silvia Persico?
Silvia Persico, born July 25, 1997, is an Italian cyclist who excels in both road races and cyclocross. She rides for UAE Team ADQ and has established herself as a versatile rider with strong performances in classic one-day races and stage races. Persico is known for her climbing skills and explosive sprint, and achieved several top placings in major races. Her blend of strength and endurance makes her a rising star in international cycling.
Name: Silvia Persico
Date of birth: July 25, 1997
Birthplace: Alzano, Italy
Turned pro: 2017
Date of birth: July 25, 1997
Birthplace: Alzano, Italy
Turned pro: 2017
Silvia Persico in a race
Born July 25, 1997, in Alzano, Italy,Silvia Persico is one of the most versatile cyclists in the peloton today. Her talent in various disciplines and her specialty in the classics and sprints have made her one of Italy's emerging great riders. In 2020, her FTP was estimated at 227 watts - or 4.28W/Kg (a value that has certainly grown significantly in the meantime).
In Cyclocross, Persico rode for three years as an under-23 rider, mainly on an Italian calendar, but she also performed at the European and World Championships. In 2018-2019 - her third year - she rode to a 4th place finish at the under-23 Worlds in Bogense, a breakthrough result and the first non-Dutch rider. From 2019-2020 she climbed into the Elite ranks, and in 2021-2022 she rode a full season internationally for the first time. She became national champion, and with a great run of form late in the season she surprised by racing to a third-place finish at the World Championships in Fayetteville.
In 2017 , she turned pro at Valcar PBM - in her first season she achieved some results and made her debut in World Tour races. In 2018 , she almost grabbed the lead in the Tour of Chongming Island on the opening day and rode another full season while still a young rider under-23. In 2019 , she finished 4th in the Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana Femina. In 2020 , she struggled to get results after the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2021 she showed talent in the Belgian classics, but it would be in 2022 that she finally broke through in the peloton. She finished 10th in Strade Bianche, 12th in the Tour of Drenthe, 8th in Trofeo Alfredo Binda, 9th in Gent-Wevelgem and 11th in the Tour of Flanders. Just after the spring classics, she picked up her first pro victory in the Gran Premio della Liberazione.
She then finished 3rd in the Ceratizit Festival Elsy Jacobs, 7th in the Vuelta a Burgos and the RideLondon Classique and won the Memorial Monica Bandini. In the Giro d'Italia that followed, she rode to 7th place and came close to winning twice. In the Tour de France Femmes, she continued her incredibly consistent run, nearing a big win and riding to 5th overall.
Persico then finished third in the Konvert Kortrijk Koerse and the MerXem Classic, second in the Kreiz Breizh Elites Féminin and in the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta she broke through by winning the 4th stage to Segovia. She won the points classification of the race and finished 12th overall. Persico was then a favorite for the World Championships and came through the climbs in the race. Her sprint made her a contender for the rainbow jersey and she finished third, sprinting alone behind Lotte Kopecky to capture a bronze medal. She signed a three-year contract with UAE Team ADQ that will begin in 2023.
In her cyclocross season, she became Italian national champion and won several races in Italy. Internationally, she was very consistent with sixth place as her worst result despite the competitive calendar. She prepared for the world championships and finished fourth at the Val di Sole and Benidorm World Cups before finishing fourth at the world championships. She started her season on the road strong with a podium finish at the UAE Tour. She won the Brabantse Pijl in the spring, her only one of the season. Persico was eighth at the Giro Donne, 14th at the Tour de France Femmes, 12th at the World Championships and fifth at the Tour de Romandie Féminin and European Championships.
In 2024 she couldn't replicate her success of previous years on the road, settling for a few Top10's in races such as the Tour of Flanders, Trofeo Alfredo Binda and a few smaller races. her only win of the year was at the GP du Morbihan. 2025 didn't prove to be a much more successful year, with a second place at the UAE Tour (won by her teammate Elisa Longo Borghini) and a fifth spot at Amstel Gold Race Ladies marking her spring. She was also third at the Gravel World Championships.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment