End of an Era: Niewiadoma-Phinney Set to Leave Canyon//SRAM for Lidl-Trek on Three-Year Deal as Sponsor Turmoil Bites
One of the longest rider-team partnerships in the women's peloton appears to be coming to an end. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney is set to join Lidl-Trek on a three-year contract from 2027, according to multiple reports, ending a spell at Canyon//SRAM that has defined the second half of her career and delivered her greatest triumphs — including that unforgettable four-second Tour de France Femmes victory in 2024.
The move has been the peloton's worst-kept secret for weeks. Rumours intensified in late May, when the Polish star was a surprise late scratch from the Giro d'Italia Women with no explanation offered by her team — a silence that spoke volumes. Canyon//SRAM's management would only describe themselves as "confident but not 100% sure" of keeping their leader for 2027, which in transfer-season language is barely a denial at all.
The backdrop makes the departure easier to understand. The team's Polish crypto sponsor zondacrypto has been engulfed in scandal — reports of a $97 million black hole and alleged Russian involvement — and the squad has since dropped the sponsor's name entirely. For a rider entering the final prime years of her career, the appeal of stability at one of the sport's wealthiest and most professional structures is obvious.
For Lidl-Trek, the signing answers the question that has hung over the team since Elisa Longo Borghini's departure two years ago: who leads the line in the biggest stage races? Niamh Fisher-Black has carried the GC burden admirably, but Niewiadoma-Phinney brings something different — a proven Grand Tour winner, a Monument-calibre puncheur, and one of the most consistent riders of her generation. Alongside sprint ace Elisa Balsamo and the team's formidable Classics unit, she completes a roster with genuine claims on every jersey in the sport.
The timing carries an extra edge. Niewiadoma-Phinney is expected to headline the upcoming Tour de France Femmes, which starts in Switzerland on 1 August and finishes atop Mont Ventoux — meaning she could spend three weeks this summer riding for a team she is about to leave, in a race she has already won. Professional cycling has never lacked for awkward subplots, and this one will follow the race from Lausanne to the Ventoux.
Official confirmation is expected once the UCI's transfer window formalities allow. When it comes, it will close a chapter that began in 2018 and reshape the balance of power in the women's WorldTour for years to come.