Alba to race as CAMS Alba in 2027 after CAMS signs as headline sponsor
The cycling accident management company will put its name to the Scottish UCI Continental team from next season, in a deal both sides say is aimed at the development pathway for young women.
Alba Development Road Team will race as CAMS Alba in 2027 after CAMS, the cycling accident management company, was announced on Monday as the team’s new headline sponsor.
The Scottish UCI Continental team has raced as Handsling Alba Development Road Team for the past two seasons. CAMS said the partnership would concentrate on young women and on the pathway that takes them from emerging riders to the top level of the sport.
“To welcome CAMS as our headline sponsor is a significant moment for the team, but it is particularly exciting because CAMS already understands the importance of creating opportunities for women in cycling,” said Bob Lyons, the team’s performance director and manager.
“This isn’t simply about putting a name on a jersey. It is about investing in riders and giving talented young women an environment in which they can develop, compete and progress. Women’s cycling has grown enormously, but the development pathway beneath the professional level still needs investment. That is the gap Alba exists to address.”
Sam Moss, a director at CAMS, called the partnership “a natural continuation of something we care deeply about”.
“We have always believed that supporting cycling means supporting the people within it, and that absolutely includes women and girls,” Moss said.
Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
For CAMS, the deal also serves a wider aim. The company said the partnership supports its plan to build a community around cycling through its new app and its network of riders, ambassadors, teams, and partners. One of those ambassadors, Dame Laura Kenny, said: “What I love about this partnership is that it is about giving women opportunities.”
Alba made its debut in 2022 and stepped up to Continental level in 2024, when Eilidh Shaw won both the National Road Series and the National Circuit Series. Kate Richardson added the National Circuit Race Championships and the Tour de Feminin in 2025, and Lauren Dickson left for FDJ United–SUEZ at the end of that year. This season the team won the National Circuit Series team title and finished second in the National Road Series team standings.
CAMS has backed a team at this level before. It was title sponsor of the women’s Continental team CAMS–Tifosi, later CAMS–Basso, from 2020 to 2022. That squad went on to become DAS–Hutchinson, which announced on Friday that it will close at the end of the season, leaving Alba as one of three British women’s Continental teams for 2027 if O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes and Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team both continue. CAMS also sponsors the ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic with its parent company, Anexo Group, and is one of the two title sponsors of the junior team camsmajaco.
Monday’s announcement does not mention Handsling, the bike brand that became title sponsor in 2025. Nor does it give the length or value of the deal, or say at what level the team will race.
Lyons told The British Continental last November that he wanted ProTeam status by 2027, on a budget of £1.5 million, around ten times what the team was then running on. He did not know whether it could be done in that time. “We’ll not do this half cocked,” he said.
The release says only that the team is entering “its next phase of development”.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
Alba Development Road Team will race as CAMS Alba in 2027 after CAMS, the cycling accident management company, was announced on Monday as the team’s new headline sponsor.
The Scottish UCI Continental team has raced as Handsling Alba Development Road Team for the past two seasons. CAMS said the partnership would concentrate on young women and on the pathway that takes them from emerging riders to the top level of the sport.
“To welcome CAMS as our headline sponsor is a significant moment for the team, but it is particularly exciting because CAMS already understands the importance of creating opportunities for women in cycling,” said Bob Lyons, the team’s performance director and manager.
“This isn’t simply about putting a name on a jersey. It is about investing in riders and giving talented young women an environment in which they can develop, compete and progress. Women’s cycling has grown enormously, but the development pathway beneath the professional level still needs investment. That is the gap Alba exists to address.”
Sam Moss, a director at CAMS, called the partnership “a natural continuation of something we care deeply about”.
“We have always believed that supporting cycling means supporting the people within it, and that absolutely includes women and girls,” Moss said.
For CAMS, the deal also serves a wider aim. The company said the partnership supports its plan to build a community around cycling through its new app and its network of riders, ambassadors, teams, and partners. One of those ambassadors, Dame Laura Kenny, said: “What I love about this partnership is that it is about giving women opportunities.”
Alba made its debut in 2022 and stepped up to Continental level in 2024, when Eilidh Shaw won both the National Road Series and the National Circuit Series. Kate Richardson added the National Circuit Race Championships and the Tour de Feminin in 2025, and Lauren Dickson left for FDJ United–SUEZ at the end of that year. This season the team won the National Circuit Series team title and finished second in the National Road Series team standings.
CAMS has backed a team at this level before. It was title sponsor of the women’s Continental team CAMS–Tifosi, later CAMS–Basso, from 2020 to 2022. That squad went on to become DAS–Hutchinson, which announced on Friday that it will close at the end of the season, leaving Alba as one of three British women’s Continental teams for 2027 if O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes and Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team both continue. CAMS also sponsors the ANEXO/CAMS Women’s CiCLE Classic with its parent company, Anexo Group, and is one of the two title sponsors of the junior team camsmajaco.
Monday’s announcement does not mention Handsling, the bike brand that became title sponsor in 2025. Nor does it give the length or value of the deal, or say at what level the team will race.
Lyons told The British Continental last November that he wanted ProTeam status by 2027, on a budget of £1.5 million, around ten times what the team was then running on. He did not know whether it could be done in that time. “We’ll not do this half cocked,” he said.
The release says only that the team is entering “its next phase of development”.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
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