Exclusive: FTP announce 2027 squad as Oakes stays and Henchoz and Zaman join
FTP–Fulfil The Potential Racing have named a 15-rider squad for 2027, with Ruby Oakes staying, Amy Henchoz joining from Paralloy RT, and Sannah Zaman stepping down from UCI Continental level. Team manager Billy Oliver spoke exclusively to The British Continental.
FTP–Fulfil The Potential Racing have announced their squad for 2027, retaining Ruby Oakes and signing Amy Henchoz from Paralloy RT to bring together two of the top four riders from this year’s National Road Series.
Henchoz, 4th in this year’s series, joins Oakes, who finished 3rd, in a 15-rider squad that also includes Sannah Zaman, from UCI Continental team O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes, and Paralloy’s Rebecca Woodvine. Rosie Wayland returns after a year away. Team manager Billy Oliver spoke exclusively to The British Continental ahead of the announcement.
I think the proudest thing for me this year is that we’ve managed to keep our team together
The announcement comes days after Paralloy RT confirmed it will close at the end of the season. Paralloy lost Katie Scott to DAS–Hutchinson in April, and manager Nikki Metcalfe told The British Continental that losing riders to UCI teams was one of her frustrations. One of the most notable aspects of FTP’s announcement, however, is that they have retained their leading riders. “I think the proudest thing for me this year is that we’ve managed to keep our team together,” Oliver said.
The 2027 squad
FTP’s 15 riders for 2027 are Rebecca Babbage, Anna Boniface, Anastasia Bowler, Charlotte Deykin, Caitlin Dimbleby, Rachel Galler, Amy Henchoz, Emma Leslie, Jessica Morrish, Claire Nott, Ruby Oakes, Phoebe Roche, Rosie Wayland, Rebecca Woodvine, and Sannah Zaman. Henchoz, Woodvine, and Zaman join from other teams, Wayland returns after a season unattached, and the other 11 are retained from 2026.
Phoebe Roche. Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
The signings
Henchoz applied to join FTP for 2026, Oliver said, but had found a place elsewhere by the time the team reached her application. She rode Rás na mBan as a guest with FTP this year, after the two had already discussed a move. “It worked out brilliantly, because she came over very much as her own rider,” Oliver said. “It was: this is your chance to see how the team works. Would you fit into it? Do you like it? She left the Rás and that was that.” Henchoz had also spoken to UCI teams before choosing FTP, he said.
The 2022 British cross-country marathon champion finished 4th in the National Road Series for Paralloy and 5th in The British Continental’s national rankings, with 2nd places at Capernwray and the Banbury Star and 6th at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix.
It starts giving us more options, and that will hopefully free up Ruby and some of the other riders to try to get into breakaways and make other things happen
Oakes and Henchoz finished one place apart in the series, on 220 and 198 points. Oliver said Henchoz’s arrival gives FTP more tactical options. “A few times this year, if Ruby tried to get into a break, she’d often be checked quite quickly,” he said. “So now it starts giving us more options, and that will hopefully free up Ruby and some of the other riders to try to get into breakaways and make other things happen.”
Zaman, 22, steps down from UCI Continental level to join FTP, an Elite Development Team. She has ridden for O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes since 2025, having previously raced for DAS–Hutchinson’s development set-up. Oliver said she wanted a programme built around the National Road Series, with some racing in Belgium, and that FTP “can offer the same opportunities as anybody else” for that kind of programme.
A former junior national hill climb champion, Zaman was 5th at the Lancaster Grand Prix this year and 19th in the National Road Series. “I think it shows the strength and depth in the team that riders like that are starting to look at the team as a really good option,” Oliver said.
Woodvine, a 20-year-old U23, is the second rider to come across from Paralloy. “She’s a great one, and I think she will really grow in that environment,” Oliver said. Wayland rode for FTP from 2023 to 2025.
Ruby Oakes. Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
Oakes stays
Oliver said Oakes was the first rider FTP confirmed for 2027. The 20-year-old from the Isle of Man joined from DAS–Hutchinson a year ago and finished 3rd in both the National Road Series and its U23 standings. She was 4th at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix and 3rd at Capernwray, rode the Tour of Britain Women for Great Britain, and was 8th overall at Rás na mBan.
“In my mind I was probably thinking she’d be very, very hard to keep hold of, because she’s had such a good year,” Oliver said. “It was a conversation I had with Ruby after Lincoln, actually, because I was expecting those phone calls and that knock on the door. But she assured me quite early that wouldn’t be the case.”
Oliver said Phoebe Roche, 10th in the U23 series standings, was “very keen to stay, straight away”. Roche and reigning national hill climb champion Rachel Galler both raced the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, where Galler was in the day’s break. Oliver named Rebecca Babbage and Anastasia Bowler as riders who had “really grown into themselves this year and proved they deserve their place in the team”. Caitlin Dimbleby, Emma Leslie, and Charlotte Deykin, who joined during 2026, also stay. Seven riders from the squad announced for 2026 are not in the 2027 line-up.
2027: the series, Belgium, and the Rás
The National Road Series remains the priority for 2027, Oliver said. FTP have also planned six trips to Belgium, including a return to the two-day stage race they rode this year, a weekend of kermesses, and further two-day races, and they will go back to Rás na mBan. “We can’t jump into some of the really big races, because we haven’t got that status,” Oliver said. “But we’ve gone through and picked races that would be really good for their development and that generally have good, full fields.”
It’s very easy to burn these riders out when most of them are working full time and have really busy lives anyway
Oliver said a squad of 15 gives the team room to rotate riders through that programme. “It’s very easy to burn these riders out when most of them are working full time and have really busy lives anyway,” he said. He added that riders returning from injury or illness would not be rushed back: “It’s not like you come back from an injury or illness and you’re doing a National A in three days.”
FTP cover riders’ race entries and kit, Oliver said, and a new sponsor will pay for accommodation at National Road Series rounds in 2027. “The biggest costs for them are race entries, accommodation, and travel,” he said. “If we’ve managed to pick up two of those now, that puts us in a much better place.” Oliver said he paid for the team car himself, that FTP rely on several smaller sponsors rather than one large one, and that the team is still looking for more.
“A massive tick”
A year ago FTP cut their squad from 26 riders to around 15 and made the National Road Series their priority. Oakes finished 3rd in the series and FTP were 4th in the team standings on 472 points, 31 behind Loughborough Lightning, with DAS–Hutchinson winning on 761. Oliver said the team ran its season on a budget of under £15,000. He said the gap to Loughborough Lightning was largely down to FTP not fielding a full squad at several rounds.
Amy Henchoz. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.co
“If we’d said at the start of the year that we’d have someone on the podium individually and fourth place as a team, that would have been a massive tick,” he said. Oliver described the decision to reduce the squad as “a very hard call”. “It almost felt like we could drift away from what we’d started out to do and end up being all about results.”
No contracts, no UCI ambitions
Metcalfe has argued for greater protections for Elite Development Teams, after Scott left Paralloy days after winning the East Cleveland Classic and taking the National Road Series lead. Oliver said losing riders mid-season was “a constant worry”. FTP do not use rider contracts.
Oliver said teams can have them, but that they do not always work, and questioned what a team could do in practice. “Do you force a rider who wants to leave to stay? You could be dropping a hand grenade in your own team, if that person is then very unhappy, and that reflects on everybody.”
I quite often get asked whether the overall vision is to become a UCI team. It’s really not. It doesn’t interest me at all
Oliver said FTP have no plans to become a UCI team. “I quite often get asked whether the overall vision is to become a UCI team. It’s really not. It doesn’t interest me at all,” he said. “I think it’s our opportunity to prove that you don’t have to be in a UCI team to get those opportunities.”
“The team is built for the riders,” Oliver said. “It’s there to support them, not to do anything past that.”
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
FTP–Fulfil The Potential Racing have announced their squad for 2027, retaining Ruby Oakes and signing Amy Henchoz from Paralloy RT to bring together two of the top four riders from this year’s National Road Series.
Henchoz, 4th in this year’s series, joins Oakes, who finished 3rd, in a 15-rider squad that also includes Sannah Zaman, from UCI Continental team O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes, and Paralloy’s Rebecca Woodvine. Rosie Wayland returns after a year away. Team manager Billy Oliver spoke exclusively to The British Continental ahead of the announcement.
The announcement comes days after Paralloy RT confirmed it will close at the end of the season. Paralloy lost Katie Scott to DAS–Hutchinson in April, and manager Nikki Metcalfe told The British Continental that losing riders to UCI teams was one of her frustrations. One of the most notable aspects of FTP’s announcement, however, is that they have retained their leading riders. “I think the proudest thing for me this year is that we’ve managed to keep our team together,” Oliver said.
The 2027 squad
FTP’s 15 riders for 2027 are Rebecca Babbage, Anna Boniface, Anastasia Bowler, Charlotte Deykin, Caitlin Dimbleby, Rachel Galler, Amy Henchoz, Emma Leslie, Jessica Morrish, Claire Nott, Ruby Oakes, Phoebe Roche, Rosie Wayland, Rebecca Woodvine, and Sannah Zaman. Henchoz, Woodvine, and Zaman join from other teams, Wayland returns after a season unattached, and the other 11 are retained from 2026.
The signings
Henchoz applied to join FTP for 2026, Oliver said, but had found a place elsewhere by the time the team reached her application. She rode Rás na mBan as a guest with FTP this year, after the two had already discussed a move. “It worked out brilliantly, because she came over very much as her own rider,” Oliver said. “It was: this is your chance to see how the team works. Would you fit into it? Do you like it? She left the Rás and that was that.” Henchoz had also spoken to UCI teams before choosing FTP, he said.
The 2022 British cross-country marathon champion finished 4th in the National Road Series for Paralloy and 5th in The British Continental’s national rankings, with 2nd places at Capernwray and the Banbury Star and 6th at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix.
Oakes and Henchoz finished one place apart in the series, on 220 and 198 points. Oliver said Henchoz’s arrival gives FTP more tactical options. “A few times this year, if Ruby tried to get into a break, she’d often be checked quite quickly,” he said. “So now it starts giving us more options, and that will hopefully free up Ruby and some of the other riders to try to get into breakaways and make other things happen.”
Zaman, 22, steps down from UCI Continental level to join FTP, an Elite Development Team. She has ridden for O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes since 2025, having previously raced for DAS–Hutchinson’s development set-up. Oliver said she wanted a programme built around the National Road Series, with some racing in Belgium, and that FTP “can offer the same opportunities as anybody else” for that kind of programme.
A former junior national hill climb champion, Zaman was 5th at the Lancaster Grand Prix this year and 19th in the National Road Series. “I think it shows the strength and depth in the team that riders like that are starting to look at the team as a really good option,” Oliver said.
Woodvine, a 20-year-old U23, is the second rider to come across from Paralloy. “She’s a great one, and I think she will really grow in that environment,” Oliver said. Wayland rode for FTP from 2023 to 2025.
Oakes stays
Oliver said Oakes was the first rider FTP confirmed for 2027. The 20-year-old from the Isle of Man joined from DAS–Hutchinson a year ago and finished 3rd in both the National Road Series and its U23 standings. She was 4th at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix and 3rd at Capernwray, rode the Tour of Britain Women for Great Britain, and was 8th overall at Rás na mBan.
“In my mind I was probably thinking she’d be very, very hard to keep hold of, because she’s had such a good year,” Oliver said. “It was a conversation I had with Ruby after Lincoln, actually, because I was expecting those phone calls and that knock on the door. But she assured me quite early that wouldn’t be the case.”
Oliver said Phoebe Roche, 10th in the U23 series standings, was “very keen to stay, straight away”. Roche and reigning national hill climb champion Rachel Galler both raced the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, where Galler was in the day’s break. Oliver named Rebecca Babbage and Anastasia Bowler as riders who had “really grown into themselves this year and proved they deserve their place in the team”. Caitlin Dimbleby, Emma Leslie, and Charlotte Deykin, who joined during 2026, also stay. Seven riders from the squad announced for 2026 are not in the 2027 line-up.
2027: the series, Belgium, and the Rás
The National Road Series remains the priority for 2027, Oliver said. FTP have also planned six trips to Belgium, including a return to the two-day stage race they rode this year, a weekend of kermesses, and further two-day races, and they will go back to Rás na mBan. “We can’t jump into some of the really big races, because we haven’t got that status,” Oliver said. “But we’ve gone through and picked races that would be really good for their development and that generally have good, full fields.”
Oliver said a squad of 15 gives the team room to rotate riders through that programme. “It’s very easy to burn these riders out when most of them are working full time and have really busy lives anyway,” he said. He added that riders returning from injury or illness would not be rushed back: “It’s not like you come back from an injury or illness and you’re doing a National A in three days.”
FTP cover riders’ race entries and kit, Oliver said, and a new sponsor will pay for accommodation at National Road Series rounds in 2027. “The biggest costs for them are race entries, accommodation, and travel,” he said. “If we’ve managed to pick up two of those now, that puts us in a much better place.” Oliver said he paid for the team car himself, that FTP rely on several smaller sponsors rather than one large one, and that the team is still looking for more.
“A massive tick”
A year ago FTP cut their squad from 26 riders to around 15 and made the National Road Series their priority. Oakes finished 3rd in the series and FTP were 4th in the team standings on 472 points, 31 behind Loughborough Lightning, with DAS–Hutchinson winning on 761. Oliver said the team ran its season on a budget of under £15,000. He said the gap to Loughborough Lightning was largely down to FTP not fielding a full squad at several rounds.
“If we’d said at the start of the year that we’d have someone on the podium individually and fourth place as a team, that would have been a massive tick,” he said. Oliver described the decision to reduce the squad as “a very hard call”. “It almost felt like we could drift away from what we’d started out to do and end up being all about results.”
No contracts, no UCI ambitions
Metcalfe has argued for greater protections for Elite Development Teams, after Scott left Paralloy days after winning the East Cleveland Classic and taking the National Road Series lead. Oliver said losing riders mid-season was “a constant worry”. FTP do not use rider contracts.
Oliver said teams can have them, but that they do not always work, and questioned what a team could do in practice. “Do you force a rider who wants to leave to stay? You could be dropping a hand grenade in your own team, if that person is then very unhappy, and that reflects on everybody.”
Oliver said FTP have no plans to become a UCI team. “I quite often get asked whether the overall vision is to become a UCI team. It’s really not. It doesn’t interest me at all,” he said. “I think it’s our opportunity to prove that you don’t have to be in a UCI team to get those opportunities.”
“The team is built for the riders,” Oliver said. “It’s there to support them, not to do anything past that.”
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
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