At the end of this year's competitive commitments, Alice Maria Arzuffi treated herself to a vacation in Japan with her partner Luca Braidot. A trip to recover energy after a season in which the 31-year-old Lombard athlete from Laboral Kutxa - Fundación Euskadi was unable to express herself as she would have liked.

"After the good results of 2024, I really hoped to maintain the same levels with the new team, but I have to be honest, the overall assessment of my 2025 cannot be positive" Alice tells tuttobiciweb.

Her debut with the Basque team came at the end of January with the Palma Trophy, then, within a few days, Arzuffi flew to the United Arab Emirates for the UAE Tour Women, which she concluded in fifteenth place in the general classification. "The season didn't start badly, I was satisfied with my condition. Then the crash at Strade Bianche and the hand fracture forced me into a long stop. For a month I only did rollers, I returned to racing in May, losing a crucial part of the year" recalls the Brianza native.

Forced to "chase" and struggling to find race rhythm to be competitive, Alice raced in Spain and then participated in the Italian championship in Darfo Boario wearing the crimson jersey of the Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Oro and subsequently returned to the mauve color of Laboral Kutxa - Fundación Euskadi for the Giro d'Italia Women. "I love the Giro and wanted to do well, but during the eight stages I suffered, it was the most critical moment of the season – Alice tells us – I would have wanted to be more in the thick of the action, but unfortunately I didn't succeed".

However, Arzuffi was in the thick of the action at the Tour de France Femmes, particularly during the Bourg-en-Bresse / Chambéry stage. "At the Tour it was different. I arrived perhaps with a different approach, without putting too much pressure on myself. I enjoyed it. The team's goal was to attack and go in a breakaway, and when I made the breakaway in the seventh stage, I was satisfied" says Alice, looking back to the end of July.

In the elite of women's cycling for over ten years, Alice has the experience to analyze the season accurately. She admits during our chat: "In the last part of the season, I felt the psychological and physical fatigue I had been carrying inside for months of 'chasing'".

Having left behind the competitive commitments of 2025, Arzuffi is already looking ahead to the new year and, thinking about the next season, immediately clarifies her main objective: "In 2026 I want to race peacefully, without pressure. I want to have fun. I have the experience and I'm certain that by enjoying myself, the results will come naturally".

It's still too early to know precisely where we'll see Alice racing next season as the plans are still being defined, but the Brianza native tells us what she would like her calendar to look like: "I'd like to return to racing the pavé classics, Spanish races like Iztulia and Navarra which I really like, and also the Tour de France. I hope to be in top condition for the French race".