Team Visma | Lease a Bike set to sign surprise 30-year-old Italian as Olav Kooij's sprint replacement
Cycling
Team Visma | Lease a Bike continues to stay active in the transfer market, with a new signing reportedly lined up for the 2026 season. According to reports from HLN and confirmed by La Gazzetta dello Sport, a third Italian rider will join the Dutch WorldTour squad.
And it’s a surprising name — not a young up-and-comer, but 30-year-old Filippo Fiorelli, a long-time stalwart of the second-tier Italian outfit VF Group–Bardiani CSF–Faizanè. Fiorelli has spent most of his professional career with the team and has made six appearances at the Giro d’Italia — the only Grand Tour he has contested — with two third-place stage finishes in 2021 and 2023 standing as his best results.
A fast finisher, Fiorelli arguably produced the ride of his career in Rome at the end of the 2023 Giro, finishing third in the final sprint behind Mark Cavendish and Alex Kirsch, ahead of top sprinters like Alberto Dainese, Fernando Gaviria, Michael Matthews, and Jonathan Milan.
His breakthrough came in 2019 when he won the Tour of Albania as an amateur, earning a late professional contract with Bardiani at the age of 26. Since then, he has claimed two more victories: the Poreč Trophy in 2021 and a stage at the Tour of Sibiu in 2022. Fiorelli has completed five of his six Giro appearances and now makes a major leap in his career with a move to Team Visma | Lease a Bike.
He had reportedly attracted interest from multiple WorldTour outfits before agreeing to join Visma, where he is expected to wear yellow from next season.
Fiorelli becomes the fifth confirmed signing for Team Visma | Lease a Bike ahead of 2026 (though no move can be officially announced until August under UCI rules), joining Timo Kielich (Alpecin–Deceuninck), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon–AG2R), Davide Piganzoli (Polti–Kometa), and development rider Pietro Mattio.
Fiorelli has worn the Maglia Ciclamino at the Giro d’Italia in the past
According to HLN, Fiorelli is being brought in as a replacement for departing sprinter Olav Kooij. However, it’s unlikely he’ll take on that role in the team’s biggest races. More realistically, he may get his chances in smaller calendar events, while also contributing to the support unit around Wout van Aert in selected finishes that suit the Belgian.
As things stand, Team Visma | Lease a Bike has five confirmed new arrivals and five confirmed departures. Alongside Kooij’s move to Decathlon–AG2R, the team will also lose Tiesj Benoot (also to AG2R), Dylan van Baarle (Soudal–Quick-Step), Attila Valter (Bahrain–Victorious), and Thomas Gloag (Q36.5).
While the team remains one of the sport’s leading forces, some observers have described the transfer activity so far as underwhelming — with the signing of Fiorelli in particular raising questions about the overall strength of the squad heading into 2026. Fiorelli himself, will be keen to prove these doubters wrong.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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