Silvia Persico

Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) rose to prominence on the cyclo-cross field, but has translated that into some very promising road seasons and results in recent years.

After a 2022 that saw Persico finish top 10 overall in both the Giro Donne and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, as well as taking her first WorldTour victory at the Ceratizit Challenge, she backed up her achievements with another impressive season in 2023. She won Brabantse Pijl in the spring just after taking fourth at the Tour of Flanders, and went on to finish eighth overall at the Giro.

To cap off a strong season, Persico turned her hand to gravel at the World Championships in Italy, where she took second - her second time on a Worlds podium after finishing third in the road race in 2022.

Persico is a rare type of rider in that she can finish in the top 10 on both a mountain stage and a sprint finish. She has proved with her Giro palmarès that she can target a high overall finish, but is changing her approach slightly for 2024, focusing more on stage wins, one-day races and the Olympics, rather than stage races, as her abilities seem to be developing more as a very strong Classics rider rather than a GC climber.