For Rachele Barbieri, 2026 will be a year full of challenges and changes. The 28-year-old Emilian sprinter has earned the trust of the technical staff of the Team Picnic PostNL and, in her third season with the Dutch team, will be the squad's reference point for sprints. This new role highly motivates Rachele, who, reached by phone in Calpe, where she is with her teammates for the training camp, tells us: "This year the team has changed a lot and my tasks have also changed. I arrived with the role of 'lead-out' but from this year I will return to launching myself in sprints".

Rachele, in the top category of women's cycling since 2016, does not hide her emotion for this "new beginning": "In my career, I have already been a leader for sprints, but having this role in Picnic PostNL motivates me, makes me feel responsible, and makes me very proud. I will need to make sure I'm ready when I have the opportunity to sprint: this is my main goal for the upcoming season".

The support of her teammates will be crucial for the Modena native to express herself at her best: "We are working to create a good train. In recent years, women's cycling has grown a lot, all teams have structured themselves to be competitive in sprints. Unity and teamwork will make the difference".

Confirming how the entire team is involved in the new course of Team Picnic is the information Rachele gives us when we ask her who will launch the sprints: "I have several teammates who can perform the task of 'last woman', and this could be our advantage, it will allow us to have alternatives depending on the races, selections, and schedules".

Selections and schedules bring us directly to discovering the race calendar of the Modena sprinter. After finishing the 2025 season with a fifth place at Binche Chimay Binche pour Dames, Rachele will open the new season at the UAE Tour Women (5 - 8 February): "For me, it's a great opportunity, we can immediately test our train and my sprints".

However, Barbieri's primary goals for 2026 will be others: "Giro d'Italia Women and Tour de France Femmes will be my major events of the season. I particularly care about the 'pink race', the inaugural stage from Cesenatico to Ravenna feels a bit like my 'home race' - says the Emilian cyclist who has been living in San Marino for some time - then we'll move where my boyfriend's parents live (Manlio Moro, ed.) and this will allow me to review the course".

The 1997-born sprinter then continues her analysis of the Giro d'Italia Women and explains her objective: "I like how the organizers have designed the course, I believe there will be several opportunities to sprint. Right from the first day. This makes the pink jersey a goal and motivates me tremendously to try to arrive at the event in the best possible condition. Then we'll see".

At the Giro, as she herself announced in an interview with our Giorgia Monguzzi, Lorena Wiebes will also be present, whom Barbieri considers a reference point among her colleagues: "Lorena is the strongest sprinter ever for me, the numbers prove it. She's a true talent with incredible explosiveness, she's proving her worth, and I try to take her as an example. You have to admit she's really strong, in sprints and on more challenging courses. I will do my best to beat her. As I always say, having high-level opponents motivates me to do my best to surpass them".