Changing teams always presents a certain amount of risk for professional cyclists. Like with any job it can take time to settle into a new workplace. So when Niamh Fisher-Black transferred from Team SD Worx-Protime to Lidl-Trek for the 2025 season, there was no guarantee that she would continue on her steady upward trajectory.
“They have very different styles, but I couldn’t say something negative about my previous team. We all know SD Worx was a powerhouse team. They were the best in the world, and they had a disproportionate number of stars in the team. It was an incredibly cool environment for me to be in because I was surrounded by so much success. But I think at one point I realised that I wanted to find something extra or more for myself, maybe I needed to just change the environment completely,” said Fisher-Black when she sat down with Rouleur to discuss her quietly brilliant 2025 season.
In August, three top 10 finishes in the final three stages of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift propelled Fisher-Black to a fifth-place finish overall — the highest Kiwi finish in the history of the men’s and women’s Tours. It was a result that would have been unlikely to happen if she remained in the SD-Worx fold. She hadn’t been the biggest name exiting the team at the end of 2024, with Demi Vollering’s transfer to FDJ-Suez taking much of the limelight, but going into 2025, the squad still boasted the likes of Lorena Wiebes, Lotte Kopecky and Anna van der Breggen.
Image: Tornanti
“I was really happy where I was, but I was maybe afraid to fall into a box as a rider. I knew I was still young and I still had a lot to find out about myself as a rider and if I was capable of being a winner, I guess. I thought maybe the best way to do that was to start fresh. I saw Lidl-Trek had a really nice environment and structure and involvement of a huge team involved with the men as well,” explained Fisher-Black.
The New Zealander didn’t suffer from the aforementioned risk of changing teams, starting her season off strongly with second at her National Championships Road Race and seventh at Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. What followed was a consistent string of performances at the early European races, including eighth at Strade Bianche and seventh at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. And then onwards to that Tour, where she rode under the radar to achieve her fifth overall.
Testament to her consistency, it was by far her only…