Human Powered Health confirmed a two-year contract extension with versatile sprinter Lily Williams, who will be part of the WorldTeam’s squad at Paris Roubaix Femmes this Saturday. The Olympic track medalist for Team USA's new contract means she will continue to compete with the US-based Women's WorldTour team through 2026.
Williams, the first rider confirmed for the squad through the next two seasons, has spent five of her seven years as a pro cyclist with the US-based team. She earned her first major podium at a European race three weeks ago at Nokere Koerse. On the climb of Lange Ast with under 15km to race, Williams followed an attack by the SD Worx-Protime duo Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes and held on for third across the closing kilometres.
“This team is where I will be very happy to spend most of my career. It’s been so fulfilling to be part of a process where you get better together. Every year I’ve been on this team I’ve gotten better,” Williams said in a team media release. “In the past months, we’ve seen the first consistent results since we’ve been on the WorldTour but that’s just the surface of what’s been evolving behind the scenes.”
Along with her podium in Belgium, Williams helped teammate Daria Pikulik to a third place at Brugge-De Panne. She’s on solid form with good legs and her ability to fight for position as she heads toward the final race of her spring Classics campaign on Saturday at Paris-Roubaix.
On the rugged course this Saturday for a third ride at Paris-Roubaix, Williams will race alongside Katia Ragusa, Romy Kasper, Alice Wood and French teammates Audrey Cordon-Ragot and Maëlle Grossetête, who both helped her with strategic moves at Nokere Koerse.
Williams demonstrated her powerful engine last year with a top five of La Classique Morbihan, seventh at Ronde de Mouscron and 10th overall at Bretagne Ladies Tour. Leading into the spring Classics this year, she took fifth on the final stage at Setmana Ciclista Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana. But her focus is to make another trip to the Olympic Games.
“The team is helping me as I aim to compete [in] Paris this summer,” Williams said.
“I want to see continued consistency and show that I belong in the WorldTour. Whatever that looks like, whether it’s me getting the result or helping someone else it doesn’t matter to me. It’s a whole team effort and I feel valued on Human Powered Health no matter what I’m doing.”
After transitioning from collegiate running to road cycling in 2018, Williams took her sprint skills on the track and was rewarded in 2020 with a rainbow jersey as she helped Team USA win the world title in the women’s Team Pursuit. At the Tokyo Olympic Games, she was part of the US team that won the bronze medal in the same discipline, and followed that success with podiums at Nations Cups events in the Individual Pursuit and Madison.
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the Spring Classics- including reporting, breaking news and analysis from the Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Strade Bianchi and more. Find out more.
