Mercato, 19 October: Martin and Scott join CAMS Alba, and Tacey signs for Smurfit Westrock
Lily Martin and Katie Scott join CAMS Alba, April Tacey signs for Smurfit Westrock, and Ben Wiggins and Jed Smithson step up to the WorldTour. The latest transfers and rider moves for 2027.
Lily Martin, top of our 2026 women’s rider rankings, and Katie Scott, who won the East Cleveland Classic and the Sheffield Grand Prix this season, will both race for CAMS Alba in 2027. The Scottish team has also kept Maddie Cooper and Holly Ramsey, taking its confirmed squad to 11 so far. Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team have signed April Tacey, a third British rider among their eight new names, and Solas Race Team have named Harriet Hendry as the first of their 2027 riders.
Abroad, three British under-23s have new French clubs, and Ben Wiggins and Jed Smithson step up to the WorldTour with Team Jayco AlUla. Tao Geoghegan Hart joins EF Education-EasyPost. Among the juniors, Watts Occurring Racing have begun naming their first squad, and Prologue Racing Team have added three more.
Drop us a line at info@thebritishcontinental.co.uk if you have news you want us to add.
Domestic
Two signings and two more re-signings for the team that races as Handsling Alba Development Road Team this season and as CAMS Alba next.
Lily Martin (Loughborough Lightning to CAMS Alba, confirmed 17 October) is 20 and finishes the season top of our women’s rider rankings. She won the Lancaster Grand Prix in July, as well as the Banbury Star Women’s Road Race and the BUCS road race championship in May, and was second at the South Molton Grand Prix and the Ilkley Grand Prix and third at the North Yorkshire Grand Prix. She already knows the team: she joined Handsling Alba as a stagiaire in July. She raced for London Academy in 2025.
Katie Scott (DAS–Hutchinson to CAMS Alba, confirmed 19 October) is 25 and comes to Alba after what the team called a breakthrough season. She won the East Cleveland Classic for Paralloy RT in April and within days had stepped up to DAS–Hutchinson, whose Continental team closes at the end of the year. In July she won the Sheffield Grand Prix, and she was third overall at the Peak 2 Day in March and fourth at the Curlew Cup in August. She raced for CJ O’Shea Racing in 2025, Spectra Racing in 2024 and DAS–Handsling Bikes in 2023.
Maddie Cooper (Handsling Alba Development Road Team, staying, confirmed 16 October) is 22 and joined Alba this season from Spectra Racing. She won the Guildford Women’s Grand Prix in July, was third at the Otley Grand Prix and fourth at the Colne Grand Prix, and sixth at the national circuit championship. Holly Ramsey (Handsling Alba Development Road Team, staying, confirmed 17 October) is 20 and came through the Tofauti Everyone Active junior team before two seasons at Hess Cycling Team and the end of 2025 with Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team. She was second at the East Cleveland Classic and fifth at the CiCLE Classic in 2025.
That makes 11 riders for 2027: nine staying and two new. The last edition had six of the re-signings.
April Tacey (Hitec Products–Fluid Control to Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team, confirmed 19 October) is 26, from Leicester, and has raced for UCI teams since 2020, when she joined Drops. She took her first professional win at the Simac Omloop der Kempen Ladies in May 2025, attacking 4km from the finish in Veldhoven and holding off the bunch by a second, with Nienke Veenhoven winning the sprint for second. Her first UCI top 10 had come two years earlier, when she was ninth in the bunch sprint at Scheldeprijs. She is Smurfit Westrock’s eighth new rider for 2027 and its third from Britain, after Lucy Lee and Ruby Isaac. When we spoke to Rick Lister in January, he had signed only one British rider for this season.
Harriet Hendry (Solas Race Team, staying, confirmed 19 October) is the first rider the Scottish team has named for 2027. She is 18 and stays for a fourth season, riding in the Development Team, the middle tier of the three-tier pathway Solas set out in September. She was ninth in the Scottish road race championship this year and last.
Britons abroad
Three British under-23s have new French clubs for 2027. Denholm Edwards (Cycling Sheffield to VCA Saint-Quentin, confirmed 16 October) is 20 and leaves after two seasons with Dave Coulson’s team, which he joined from the Tofauti Everyone Active junior team. He was third at the Northern regional road race championship in May and fifth at the Danum Trophy in April, and ninth at the Ilkley Grand Prix and 10th at the Chas Messenger Trophy. Saint-Quentin race in the French N3.
Thomas Gardner (ASPTT Nancy Meurthe-et-Moselle to UV Aube, confirmed 16 October) is 22 and makes the same move Alistair Gardner made earlier this month. He spent this season in France after two years racing for the University of Exeter, and in 2025 was fourth overall at the Totnes Vire stage race and fifth in the BUCS road race championship. Finn Mason (Hubo-Scott Cycling Team to C’Chartres Cyclisme, confirmed 16 October) is 21 and leaves the Belgian club after two seasons. He rode for Saint Piran in 2024. This year he was fourth at the Gifford Road Race and fourth in the prologue of the Mennock Pass Stage Race, and ninth at the Dawlish Grand Prix.
Ben Wiggins and Jed Smithson (Hagens Berman Jayco to Team Jayco AlUla, confirmed 19 October) step up to the WorldTour from the team’s development squad, alongside the Australian Wil Holmes and the Irish rider Adam Rafferty. Both are 21 and came through Fensham Howes–MAS Design. Wiggins, in his third season with Hagens Berman Jayco, won the national under-23 time trial title in June and was 10th overall at the Tour of Britain in September, riding for Great Britain, where he won the combativity award on the final stage. Smithson joined the team this year after two seasons with Visma–Lease a Bike’s development team, and won the South Molton Grand Prix in July.
Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl–Trek to EF Education-EasyPost, confirmed 19 October) is 31 and moves after three seasons with Lidl–Trek, which followed the femur fracture he suffered at the 2023 Giro d’Italia. The 2020 Giro winner’s best result since was third overall at the Tour of Slovenia in 2025. “We are taking the bet that 2027 will be the year that this happens,” said Jonathan Vaughters, EF’s chief executive.
Juniors
Watts Occurring Racing, the new junior team set up by Maindy Flyers, has begun naming its six riders one at a time. Harry Cooper (Beeston CC to Watts Occurring Racing, confirmed 18 October) was the first. “I’m excited to start my junior journey with Watts Occurring Racing,” he said. Sam Farquhar (Maindy Flyers to Watts Occurring Racing, confirmed 18 October) is the second, and the first of the four from Maindy. “Really pleased to be joining Watts Occurring Racing for the 2027 season,” he said. “I am excited for the opportunity to race and train with the team.”
Prologue Racing Team have added three more to their junior squad. Will Baldie (trainSharp Roman Race Team to Prologue Racing Team, confirmed 18 October) joins for his second year as a junior. The team pointed to his rides at the national junior time trial and road race championships this season, and to his results against seniors: second in the Bath & Swindon Winter Series and a top 10 in the E/1/2/3 race at Castle Combe. James Hardisty (Clancy Briggs Cycling Academy to Prologue Racing Team, confirmed 19 October) comes from a background in cyclo-cross, mountain biking and road racing, and was seventh in the junior race at the opening round of the National Trophy in Derby. Felix Boyle (Prologue Racing Team, confirmed 16 October) steps up from youth racing. They join Lewis Anderson, whose signing was in our last edition.
Two British juniors have signed for Cannibal B Victorious, the Belgian under-19 development team. Thomas Wilks (Beeston CC to Cannibal B Victorious, confirmed 19 October) won the Youth Tour of Scotland in April, taking the lead with a solo stage win in the crosswinds at Lochgelly, and the team says he also won the Tour of Kent and was second at the Junior Cycling Tour of Assen. Billy Ladle (Secret-Training.cc to Cannibal B Victorious, confirmed 14 October) is, in the team’s words, a sprinter “and so much more”.
Finally, Katie Lawson (Secret-Training.cc to Vermarc Cycling Team, confirmed 15 October) joins Vermarc for 2027.
All of the moves above are on Mercato 2027, our tracker of transfers and rider moves, and the domestic moves are in our 2027 team guides for women’s and men’s teams. If you missed it, the last edition had Morven Yeoman’s move to Infusion Network–Meridian and Joe Blackmore and James Shaw’s to Netcompany INEOS.
Lily Martin, top of our 2026 women’s rider rankings, and Katie Scott, who won the East Cleveland Classic and the Sheffield Grand Prix this season, will both race for CAMS Alba in 2027. The Scottish team has also kept Maddie Cooper and Holly Ramsey, taking its confirmed squad to 11 so far. Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team have signed April Tacey, a third British rider among their eight new names, and Solas Race Team have named Harriet Hendry as the first of their 2027 riders.
Abroad, three British under-23s have new French clubs, and Ben Wiggins and Jed Smithson step up to the WorldTour with Team Jayco AlUla. Tao Geoghegan Hart joins EF Education-EasyPost. Among the juniors, Watts Occurring Racing have begun naming their first squad, and Prologue Racing Team have added three more.
Drop us a line at info@thebritishcontinental.co.uk if you have news you want us to add.
Domestic
Two signings and two more re-signings for the team that races as Handsling Alba Development Road Team this season and as CAMS Alba next.
Lily Martin (Loughborough Lightning to CAMS Alba, confirmed 17 October) is 20 and finishes the season top of our women’s rider rankings. She won the Lancaster Grand Prix in July, as well as the Banbury Star Women’s Road Race and the BUCS road race championship in May, and was second at the South Molton Grand Prix and the Ilkley Grand Prix and third at the North Yorkshire Grand Prix. She already knows the team: she joined Handsling Alba as a stagiaire in July. She raced for London Academy in 2025.
Katie Scott (DAS–Hutchinson to CAMS Alba, confirmed 19 October) is 25 and comes to Alba after what the team called a breakthrough season. She won the East Cleveland Classic for Paralloy RT in April and within days had stepped up to DAS–Hutchinson, whose Continental team closes at the end of the year. In July she won the Sheffield Grand Prix, and she was third overall at the Peak 2 Day in March and fourth at the Curlew Cup in August. She raced for CJ O’Shea Racing in 2025, Spectra Racing in 2024 and DAS–Handsling Bikes in 2023.
Maddie Cooper (Handsling Alba Development Road Team, staying, confirmed 16 October) is 22 and joined Alba this season from Spectra Racing. She won the Guildford Women’s Grand Prix in July, was third at the Otley Grand Prix and fourth at the Colne Grand Prix, and sixth at the national circuit championship. Holly Ramsey (Handsling Alba Development Road Team, staying, confirmed 17 October) is 20 and came through the Tofauti Everyone Active junior team before two seasons at Hess Cycling Team and the end of 2025 with Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team. She was second at the East Cleveland Classic and fifth at the CiCLE Classic in 2025.
That makes 11 riders for 2027: nine staying and two new. The last edition had six of the re-signings.
April Tacey (Hitec Products–Fluid Control to Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team, confirmed 19 October) is 26, from Leicester, and has raced for UCI teams since 2020, when she joined Drops. She took her first professional win at the Simac Omloop der Kempen Ladies in May 2025, attacking 4km from the finish in Veldhoven and holding off the bunch by a second, with Nienke Veenhoven winning the sprint for second. Her first UCI top 10 had come two years earlier, when she was ninth in the bunch sprint at Scheldeprijs. She is Smurfit Westrock’s eighth new rider for 2027 and its third from Britain, after Lucy Lee and Ruby Isaac. When we spoke to Rick Lister in January, he had signed only one British rider for this season.
Harriet Hendry (Solas Race Team, staying, confirmed 19 October) is the first rider the Scottish team has named for 2027. She is 18 and stays for a fourth season, riding in the Development Team, the middle tier of the three-tier pathway Solas set out in September. She was ninth in the Scottish road race championship this year and last.
Britons abroad
Three British under-23s have new French clubs for 2027. Denholm Edwards (Cycling Sheffield to VCA Saint-Quentin, confirmed 16 October) is 20 and leaves after two seasons with Dave Coulson’s team, which he joined from the Tofauti Everyone Active junior team. He was third at the Northern regional road race championship in May and fifth at the Danum Trophy in April, and ninth at the Ilkley Grand Prix and 10th at the Chas Messenger Trophy. Saint-Quentin race in the French N3.
Thomas Gardner (ASPTT Nancy Meurthe-et-Moselle to UV Aube, confirmed 16 October) is 22 and makes the same move Alistair Gardner made earlier this month. He spent this season in France after two years racing for the University of Exeter, and in 2025 was fourth overall at the Totnes Vire stage race and fifth in the BUCS road race championship. Finn Mason (Hubo-Scott Cycling Team to C’Chartres Cyclisme, confirmed 16 October) is 21 and leaves the Belgian club after two seasons. He rode for Saint Piran in 2024. This year he was fourth at the Gifford Road Race and fourth in the prologue of the Mennock Pass Stage Race, and ninth at the Dawlish Grand Prix.
Ben Wiggins and Jed Smithson (Hagens Berman Jayco to Team Jayco AlUla, confirmed 19 October) step up to the WorldTour from the team’s development squad, alongside the Australian Wil Holmes and the Irish rider Adam Rafferty. Both are 21 and came through Fensham Howes–MAS Design. Wiggins, in his third season with Hagens Berman Jayco, won the national under-23 time trial title in June and was 10th overall at the Tour of Britain in September, riding for Great Britain, where he won the combativity award on the final stage. Smithson joined the team this year after two seasons with Visma–Lease a Bike’s development team, and won the South Molton Grand Prix in July.
Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl–Trek to EF Education-EasyPost, confirmed 19 October) is 31 and moves after three seasons with Lidl–Trek, which followed the femur fracture he suffered at the 2023 Giro d’Italia. The 2020 Giro winner’s best result since was third overall at the Tour of Slovenia in 2025. “We are taking the bet that 2027 will be the year that this happens,” said Jonathan Vaughters, EF’s chief executive.
Juniors
Watts Occurring Racing, the new junior team set up by Maindy Flyers, has begun naming its six riders one at a time. Harry Cooper (Beeston CC to Watts Occurring Racing, confirmed 18 October) was the first. “I’m excited to start my junior journey with Watts Occurring Racing,” he said. Sam Farquhar (Maindy Flyers to Watts Occurring Racing, confirmed 18 October) is the second, and the first of the four from Maindy. “Really pleased to be joining Watts Occurring Racing for the 2027 season,” he said. “I am excited for the opportunity to race and train with the team.”
Prologue Racing Team have added three more to their junior squad. Will Baldie (trainSharp Roman Race Team to Prologue Racing Team, confirmed 18 October) joins for his second year as a junior. The team pointed to his rides at the national junior time trial and road race championships this season, and to his results against seniors: second in the Bath & Swindon Winter Series and a top 10 in the E/1/2/3 race at Castle Combe. James Hardisty (Clancy Briggs Cycling Academy to Prologue Racing Team, confirmed 19 October) comes from a background in cyclo-cross, mountain biking and road racing, and was seventh in the junior race at the opening round of the National Trophy in Derby. Felix Boyle (Prologue Racing Team, confirmed 16 October) steps up from youth racing. They join Lewis Anderson, whose signing was in our last edition.
Two British juniors have signed for Cannibal B Victorious, the Belgian under-19 development team. Thomas Wilks (Beeston CC to Cannibal B Victorious, confirmed 19 October) won the Youth Tour of Scotland in April, taking the lead with a solo stage win in the crosswinds at Lochgelly, and the team says he also won the Tour of Kent and was second at the Junior Cycling Tour of Assen. Billy Ladle (Secret-Training.cc to Cannibal B Victorious, confirmed 14 October) is, in the team’s words, a sprinter “and so much more”.
Finally, Katie Lawson (Secret-Training.cc to Vermarc Cycling Team, confirmed 15 October) joins Vermarc for 2027.
All of the moves above are on Mercato 2027, our tracker of transfers and rider moves, and the domestic moves are in our 2027 team guides for women’s and men’s teams. If you missed it, the last edition had Morven Yeoman’s move to Infusion Network–Meridian and Joe Blackmore and James Shaw’s to Netcompany INEOS.
Featured image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
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