Mercato, 9 October: Gardiner signs four-year Fenix-Premier Tech deal, and On Form name 11 for 2027
Rebecca Gardiner signs a four-year deal with Fenix-Premier Tech that takes her to the WorldTour in 2029, and Duckworth Motor Group–On Form name their first 11 riders under a new sponsor. Smurfit Westrock add Maaike Brandwagt, Halesowen sign three, Neah Evans and Amelia Tyler leave Alba, and Ben Chilton and Bradley Perkins change teams abroad.
Rebecca Gardiner has signed a four-year deal with Fenix-Premier Tech. The 19-year-old will ride for the development team in 2027 and 2028 and then step up to the WorldTour squad, Puck Pieterse’s team, for 2029 and 2030. She came through Tofauti Everyone Active as a junior and raced in the Low Countries this season with KDM-Pack Women Cycling-Team. In August she rode the Tour of Britain Women for Great Britain. On the same day, her former Tofauti team-mate Gabriella McHugh signed for AG Insurance–Soudal’s development team, so two British juniors of the same generation are joining WorldTeam development squads for 2027.
At home, the team that raced this year as Brother UK–Team OnForm have named their first 11 riders for 2027 under a new sponsor, as Duckworth Motor Group–On Form. Smurfit Westrock have a fifth rider for next season in Maaike Brandwagt, Halesowen Academy have signed three, and Neah Evans and Amelia Tyler are leaving the Scottish team that becomes CAMS Alba. Abroad, Isabel Darvill and Ben Chilton change clubs and Bradley Perkins turns up at a Continental team in the Philippines.
Drop us a line at info@thebritishcontinental.co.uk if you have news you want us to add.
Domestic
Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team have made their second new signing for 2027, and it is a move between two of the three British women’s teams expected to hold UCI Continental licences next season. Maaike Brandwagt (O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes to Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team, confirmed 9 October) is 28 and Dutch, and spent this season at O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes. She joins Ruby Isaac, whose signing from camsmajaco was in our last edition, and three riders who are staying: Jo Tindley, Amelia Cebak and Lidia Cusack.
The team that raced this year as Brother UK–Team OnForm have named 11 riders for 2027, three days after announcing a new headline sponsor. It is the development programme that the DAS–Hutchinson Continental squad grew out of, and the part of that operation that carries on after the Continental team closes at the end of the year. Duckworth Motor Group is a family-owned motor group with Range Rover, Defender and Discovery showrooms in Lincolnshire and Norfolk. Announcing the deal on 6 October, the team said the backing would let it keep supporting its junior and under-23 riders on a UK and European calendar. It also said there would be new team management for 2027 but gave no details.
Four of the 11 are new. Grace Upshall and Lily-Ann Scott (both Shibden Apex RT to Duckworth Motor Group–On Form, confirmed 9 October) are both 17, and Upshall was third at the London Academy Easter Road Race and at the South Cerney Kermesse this season. Esmee Bone and Eleanor Thompson (both Team Ohten to Duckworth Motor Group–On Form, confirmed 9 October) are the other two. The seven staying are Luned Budge, Abi Clayton, Katie Colling, Isabelle Goodwin, Ava Luce, Florence Wood and Izabel Young, all confirmed on 9 October. Clayton was fourth at the Tour of Mendip in August and Luce sixth at the Scottish road race championships.
Neah Evans and Amelia Tyler (Handsling Alba Development Road Team, leaving, confirmed 9 October) follow Arianne Holland, whose departure was also in our last edition, out of the Scottish team, which will race as CAMS Alba in 2027. Evans is 36 and an Olympic silver medallist in the team pursuit at Tokyo. She has raced on the road for the team for the past two seasons, after riding for Team HUUB. Tyler is 23 and has been with the team since 2023, when it was still Alba Development Road Team. She was 12th at the North Yorkshire Grand Prix in August. Neither has said where she is going.
Halesowen Academy have signed three riders for 2027. James Bacon (TAAP Kalas to Halesowen Academy, confirmed 8 October) is 19 and was third at the Chas Messenger Trophy in September, his best result of the season. Ben Alliston and Joel Davidson (both to Halesowen Academy, confirmed 8 October) are both 16. Alliston raced as a Youth A this season.
Zappi Racing Team have a sixth rider for 2027. Finn Slade (Zappi Racing Team, staying, confirmed 9 October) is 19 and, like Otis Jones and Seb Zajaczkowski, stays on rather than arrives.
Britons abroad
Rebecca Gardiner (KDM-Pack Women Cycling-Team to Fenix-Premier Tech Development Team, confirmed 9 October). Gardiner called the move “the perfect next step in my development”. She joins Fenix-Premier Tech on the same day as two WorldTeam signings, Julia Borgström and Karolina Perekitko. She rode for Tofauti Everyone Active in her two junior years before going to race in Belgium and the Netherlands this season. She finished third at the Ronde van Twente in July and at Zottegem-Erwetegem in August, and fourth at the Berchem Classic in September. She also raced at UCI level, finishing 17th at the Grote Prijs CHW Beveren and 22nd at the Argenta Classic in Deurne. In between she made her Women’s WorldTour debut at the Tour of Britain Women for Great Britain, aged 18, but did not finish the opening stage in Cockermouth.
Gabriella McHugh (camsmajaco to AG Insurance–Soudal Devo Team, confirmed 9 October). McHugh is 18 and joins the development team of the Belgian WorldTeam on the same day Gardiner signed for Fenix-Premier Tech. The two were team-mates at Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco in 2025. McHugh stayed on when it became camsmajaco this season, and was fourth at the South Molton Grand Prix in July and seventh at the East Cleveland Classic in April.
Isabel Darvill (O’Shea Development Team to Révvi-EGS Group-Velopro, rider-announced 8 October). Darvill is 25 and from Balderton, near Newark. Her best result came at the 2024 national circuit championships in Darlington, where she took bronze behind Emma Jeffers and Eilidh Shaw. That season she was also third at the Ilkley Grand Prix and fourth at the CiCLE Classic. A year earlier she was third at Ilkley and at the Newark Grand Prix. She joined Pro-Noctis, the team that is now Smurfit Westrock, partway through 2021, spent 2023 at Spectra Racing, and has been part of the O’Shea set-up since 2024. This season she was fifth at the Guildford Women’s Grand Prix and also raced Binche-Chimay-Binche in Belgium.
Ben Chilton (Mayenne-Monbana-Rapido to AC Bisontine, confirmed 8 October). Chilton is 23 and stays in the French club ranks, swapping the Mayenne team for the club in Besançon. He made his name at home with Ribble Collective. In 2023, aged 20, he attacked 10 minutes into the National Circuit Series round in Guildford and won it alone. That December he won the elite race at the National Trophy cyclo-cross round in Gravesend. He was 10th at the national circuit championships in 2024. That year he also spent the first half of the season at Team U Charente-Maritime, before joining the Mayenne team midway through 2025. This season he raced Kreiz Breizh Elites and the Classic Loire Atlantique in France, and he came home in July to finish eighth at the Ilkley Grand Prix.
Bradley Perkins (US Lamentin to 7 Eleven-Cliqq-Roadbike Philippines, with immediate effect, reported by DirectVelo 8 October). Perkins is 22 and has taken a longer route than most. He joined CC Plancoët in Brittany in the middle of 2025, started this season at the Martinique club US Lamentin, and now rides for a UCI Continental team in the Philippines. He was 20th in the under-23 national time trial in 2025.
Juniors
Harrogate Nova Race Team have a third junior signing for 2027, after Andrew Levinson and Arthur Sleightholm in our last edition. Thomas Hutchinson (Team RL360 Isle of Man to Harrogate Nova Race Team, confirmed 8 October) arrives from the Manx team.
All of the above is on Mercato 2027, our tracker of transfers and rider moves, along with everything else we have confirmed. If you missed it, the last edition had Ruby Isaac’s move to Smurfit Westrock and FTP’s full 2027 squad.
Featured image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com. Becky Gardiner at the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women.
Rebecca Gardiner has signed a four-year deal with Fenix-Premier Tech. The 19-year-old will ride for the development team in 2027 and 2028 and then step up to the WorldTour squad, Puck Pieterse’s team, for 2029 and 2030. She came through Tofauti Everyone Active as a junior and raced in the Low Countries this season with KDM-Pack Women Cycling-Team. In August she rode the Tour of Britain Women for Great Britain. On the same day, her former Tofauti team-mate Gabriella McHugh signed for AG Insurance–Soudal’s development team, so two British juniors of the same generation are joining WorldTeam development squads for 2027.
At home, the team that raced this year as Brother UK–Team OnForm have named their first 11 riders for 2027 under a new sponsor, as Duckworth Motor Group–On Form. Smurfit Westrock have a fifth rider for next season in Maaike Brandwagt, Halesowen Academy have signed three, and Neah Evans and Amelia Tyler are leaving the Scottish team that becomes CAMS Alba. Abroad, Isabel Darvill and Ben Chilton change clubs and Bradley Perkins turns up at a Continental team in the Philippines.
Drop us a line at info@thebritishcontinental.co.uk if you have news you want us to add.
Domestic
Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team have made their second new signing for 2027, and it is a move between two of the three British women’s teams expected to hold UCI Continental licences next season. Maaike Brandwagt (O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes to Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team, confirmed 9 October) is 28 and Dutch, and spent this season at O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes. She joins Ruby Isaac, whose signing from camsmajaco was in our last edition, and three riders who are staying: Jo Tindley, Amelia Cebak and Lidia Cusack.
The team that raced this year as Brother UK–Team OnForm have named 11 riders for 2027, three days after announcing a new headline sponsor. It is the development programme that the DAS–Hutchinson Continental squad grew out of, and the part of that operation that carries on after the Continental team closes at the end of the year. Duckworth Motor Group is a family-owned motor group with Range Rover, Defender and Discovery showrooms in Lincolnshire and Norfolk. Announcing the deal on 6 October, the team said the backing would let it keep supporting its junior and under-23 riders on a UK and European calendar. It also said there would be new team management for 2027 but gave no details.
Four of the 11 are new. Grace Upshall and Lily-Ann Scott (both Shibden Apex RT to Duckworth Motor Group–On Form, confirmed 9 October) are both 17, and Upshall was third at the London Academy Easter Road Race and at the South Cerney Kermesse this season. Esmee Bone and Eleanor Thompson (both Team Ohten to Duckworth Motor Group–On Form, confirmed 9 October) are the other two. The seven staying are Luned Budge, Abi Clayton, Katie Colling, Isabelle Goodwin, Ava Luce, Florence Wood and Izabel Young, all confirmed on 9 October. Clayton was fourth at the Tour of Mendip in August and Luce sixth at the Scottish road race championships.
Neah Evans and Amelia Tyler (Handsling Alba Development Road Team, leaving, confirmed 9 October) follow Arianne Holland, whose departure was also in our last edition, out of the Scottish team, which will race as CAMS Alba in 2027. Evans is 36 and an Olympic silver medallist in the team pursuit at Tokyo. She has raced on the road for the team for the past two seasons, after riding for Team HUUB. Tyler is 23 and has been with the team since 2023, when it was still Alba Development Road Team. She was 12th at the North Yorkshire Grand Prix in August. Neither has said where she is going.
Halesowen Academy have signed three riders for 2027. James Bacon (TAAP Kalas to Halesowen Academy, confirmed 8 October) is 19 and was third at the Chas Messenger Trophy in September, his best result of the season. Ben Alliston and Joel Davidson (both to Halesowen Academy, confirmed 8 October) are both 16. Alliston raced as a Youth A this season.
Zappi Racing Team have a sixth rider for 2027. Finn Slade (Zappi Racing Team, staying, confirmed 9 October) is 19 and, like Otis Jones and Seb Zajaczkowski, stays on rather than arrives.
Britons abroad
Rebecca Gardiner (KDM-Pack Women Cycling-Team to Fenix-Premier Tech Development Team, confirmed 9 October). Gardiner called the move “the perfect next step in my development”. She joins Fenix-Premier Tech on the same day as two WorldTeam signings, Julia Borgström and Karolina Perekitko. She rode for Tofauti Everyone Active in her two junior years before going to race in Belgium and the Netherlands this season. She finished third at the Ronde van Twente in July and at Zottegem-Erwetegem in August, and fourth at the Berchem Classic in September. She also raced at UCI level, finishing 17th at the Grote Prijs CHW Beveren and 22nd at the Argenta Classic in Deurne. In between she made her Women’s WorldTour debut at the Tour of Britain Women for Great Britain, aged 18, but did not finish the opening stage in Cockermouth.
Gabriella McHugh (camsmajaco to AG Insurance–Soudal Devo Team, confirmed 9 October). McHugh is 18 and joins the development team of the Belgian WorldTeam on the same day Gardiner signed for Fenix-Premier Tech. The two were team-mates at Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco in 2025. McHugh stayed on when it became camsmajaco this season, and was fourth at the South Molton Grand Prix in July and seventh at the East Cleveland Classic in April.
Isabel Darvill (O’Shea Development Team to Révvi-EGS Group-Velopro, rider-announced 8 October). Darvill is 25 and from Balderton, near Newark. Her best result came at the 2024 national circuit championships in Darlington, where she took bronze behind Emma Jeffers and Eilidh Shaw. That season she was also third at the Ilkley Grand Prix and fourth at the CiCLE Classic. A year earlier she was third at Ilkley and at the Newark Grand Prix. She joined Pro-Noctis, the team that is now Smurfit Westrock, partway through 2021, spent 2023 at Spectra Racing, and has been part of the O’Shea set-up since 2024. This season she was fifth at the Guildford Women’s Grand Prix and also raced Binche-Chimay-Binche in Belgium.
Ben Chilton (Mayenne-Monbana-Rapido to AC Bisontine, confirmed 8 October). Chilton is 23 and stays in the French club ranks, swapping the Mayenne team for the club in Besançon. He made his name at home with Ribble Collective. In 2023, aged 20, he attacked 10 minutes into the National Circuit Series round in Guildford and won it alone. That December he won the elite race at the National Trophy cyclo-cross round in Gravesend. He was 10th at the national circuit championships in 2024. That year he also spent the first half of the season at Team U Charente-Maritime, before joining the Mayenne team midway through 2025. This season he raced Kreiz Breizh Elites and the Classic Loire Atlantique in France, and he came home in July to finish eighth at the Ilkley Grand Prix.
Bradley Perkins (US Lamentin to 7 Eleven-Cliqq-Roadbike Philippines, with immediate effect, reported by DirectVelo 8 October). Perkins is 22 and has taken a longer route than most. He joined CC Plancoët in Brittany in the middle of 2025, started this season at the Martinique club US Lamentin, and now rides for a UCI Continental team in the Philippines. He was 20th in the under-23 national time trial in 2025.
Juniors
Harrogate Nova Race Team have a third junior signing for 2027, after Andrew Levinson and Arthur Sleightholm in our last edition. Thomas Hutchinson (Team RL360 Isle of Man to Harrogate Nova Race Team, confirmed 8 October) arrives from the Manx team.
All of the above is on Mercato 2027, our tracker of transfers and rider moves, along with everything else we have confirmed. If you missed it, the last edition had Ruby Isaac’s move to Smurfit Westrock and FTP’s full 2027 squad.
Featured image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com. Becky Gardiner at the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women.
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