![\"filippofiorelli\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/filippofiorelli-6637e7440cc17.jpg@webp.webp\")
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\nFrom Bardiani to Visma: \u201cIt\u2019s on another level altogether\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone had told me at the start of the year that Visma would contact me after the Giro d\u2019Italia, I\u2019d have slapped them,\u201d Fiorelli admitted with a laugh. \u201cI\u2019d have thought they were having me on.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not to say Bardiani have less than others, far from it, but Visma are on another level \u2014 in logistics, structure, everything,” he adds. “When you move from the amateurs to the pros, everything feels new. When you move from a ProTeam to the WorldTour, it\u2019s the same thing all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rider from Palermo has spent the past six years with the Reverberi family\u2019s Bardiani setup, a team that gave him his professional start in 2020 after he\u2019d spent several seasons in the Italian amateur scene. \u201cThis has been the only team that truly believed in me,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll do everything I can to honour them right to the end and leave a good impression. I\u2019ve come this far thanks to them believing in me since 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fiorelli\u2019s path to the top has been an old-fashioned one \u2014 a late bloomer who earned his first pro contract at 26. \u201cIf I look back, they always gave me everything I needed,\u201d he reflected. \u201cIt\u2019s been a special journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Fiorelli has been a long-time servant of Bardiani<\/p>\n
The phone call that changed everything<\/p>\n
The Visma opportunity, he explained, came completely out of the blue. \u201cAfter the Giro, Paolo and I agreed to take stock. I\u2019d shared my TrainingPeaks data with Alpecin, who seemed interested. Then about 20 minutes later, Paolo called and said: \u2018Hey, they\u2019re taking you!\u2019 I thought he meant Alpecin. Instead, he said: \u2018No \u2014 it\u2019s Visma.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
From there, things moved quickly. Fiorelli was in the Netherlands for medical tests, biomechanical assessments and his first fitting on a Cerv\u00e9lo \u2014 a far cry from the Guerciotti, MCipollini and De Rosa bikes he\u2019d ridden with Bardiani. \u201cThey contacted me the week after the Giro and I signed at the start of August. In between, there were all the evaluations and requirements they have when a new rider joins them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year I see improvements\u201d<\/p>\n
What kind of Fiorelli will Visma be getting? A rider still on the rise, he insists. \u201cI don\u2019t really know how far I can go, because every year I see improvements. My numbers, my results, even the data from the climbs I do near home \u2014 it all keeps getting better. Maybe now, with this step up in quality, I can climb another rung.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also believes the team\u2019s famously meticulous methods can help him progress. \u201cI\u2019ve seen riders with similar characteristics to mine who\u2019ve gone there, and between their new coach, nutritionist and attention to detail, they\u2019ve made real improvements \u2014 and those are within my reach too. When we talked, they mentioned Laporte. He was already in a big team at Cofidis, but at Visma he made another big step forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought a team like that would follow me so closely\u201d<\/p>\n
Fiorelli remains humbled by the scale of the move. \u201cI\u2019ve always raced in events where they were present. Even years ago, when I was fifth at Plouay, or third in Rome in 2023 \u2014 I was always up there in the results. So yes, I hoped someone would notice sooner or later. But I never imagined that a team like that would be interested in me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese teams are another category altogether \u2014 not just a normal WorldTour squad,\u201d he added. \u201cI never thought a team of that calibre would be following me so closely.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sicilian, who remains deeply connected to his roots \u2014 restoring traditional Sicilian carts with his grandfather is one of his favourite pastimes \u2014 will meet his new coach, Espen Aareskjold, before taking a short break. \u201cFor now, it\u2019s just been about the bike and the medicals,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll see them next week before a bit of a holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n
A well-earned reward for perseverance<\/p>\n
Whether Fiorelli ends up as a classics support rider for Wout van Aert and Ben Brennan or in another role altogether, his rise to the WorldTour is already a story of perseverance. \u201cMaybe a few people were annoyed,\u201d he joked of the reactions in the peloton, \u201cbut most said: \u2018You deserve it, well done, it\u2019s about time.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
At 30, the Sicilian late-bloomer finally has his chance among cycling\u2019s elite \u2014 proof that persistence, self-belief and a touch of humility can still open the biggest doors in the sport.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From Bardiani to Visma: \u201cIt\u2019s on another level altogether\u201d \u201cIf someone had told me at the start…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-213734","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}