Jolanda Neff linked with Fenix-Premier Tech for 2027 as a return to road racing beckons

The future of Jolanda Neff seems to be getting closer to resolution. The Olympic XCO champion from Tokyo 2021 could join Fenix-Premier Tech in 2027, an operation that would mean her return to a WorldTour road structure after several years focused mainly on mountain biking. 

Jolanda Neff could share a team with Puck Pieterse

According to the Dutch media WielerFlits, several sources have confirmed that Jolanda Neff will race for Fenix-Premier Tech starting in 2027. Although there is still no official announcement from the team or the cyclist, the information suggests that the Swiss, who will turn 34 in January, has already decided her future.

What is still to be determined is her sports calendar and, especially, which disciplines she will combine during the upcoming season. Her joining a WorldTour team opens the possibility of her competing regularly on the road again, although she would not necessarily have to abandon mountain biking.

Last June, Cannondale announced that 2026 would be the last season for its historic Factory Racing team, ending a structure with more than three decades of presence in the elite of mountain biking.

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The brand explained that this decision is part of a transformation of its sports strategy, which starting in 2027 will revolve around the new Cannondale Rogues program, a broader initiative that will bring together athletes from different disciplines and other profiles related to cycling. 

The announcement left several top-level riders on the market, and some of them have already confirmed their new destinations. This is the case of Luca Martin, winner of the overall XCO and XCC World Cup in 2026, who will race for the Decathlon Ford Racing Team for the next two seasons. And his teammate Cole Punchard, bronze medalist at the 2026 Elite XCO World Championship, who has also signed with Decathlon Ford.

The possible signing of Jolanda Neff by Fenix-Premier Tech is particularly interesting due to the philosophy of the Belgian team, which maintains a close relationship with cyclocross and mountain biking.

Her main reference in the team would be Puck Pieterse, one of the cyclists who has best managed to combine the three disciplines in recent years. The Dutchwoman, XCO world champion in 2024, has balanced her MTB goals with a top-level road calendar.

The arrival of Neff would allow the gathering of two XCO world champions from different generations in the same structure and would strengthen the team's commitment to multidisciplinary female riders.

Additionally, Fenix-Premier Tech has already announced the incorporation of young talents like Lise Revol and Barbora Bukovská, both coming from disciplines such as cyclocross and mountain biking.

An Olympic champion who already knows the road peloton

Although her name is inevitably associated with mountain biking (Tokyo 2021 Olympic gold, XCO World Champion in 2017, several European titles, and three overall World Cup standings), Jolanda Neff has an important background in other modalities.

In 2019, she was already part of Trek-Segafredo, where she combined MTB competitions with some road events. Previously, she had also competed for Rabobank-Liv Giant in 2013. Among her most notable results on the road are the 2018 Swiss Championship, eighth place in the Olympic event in Rio 2016, and third place that same year in the Trofeo Alfredo Binda.

Neff also has a notable career in cyclocross, a discipline in which she has achieved significant international victories, such as the GP Sven Nys in Baal in 2019, where she defeated then-world champion Sanne Cant, and the title of Swiss champion that same year. Additionally, she placed fifth at the 2019 World Championship in Bogense and has continued to demonstrate her level in recent winters, with two victories in the 2025 North Carolina Grand Prix and a fifth place in the Namur World Cup. Her sixth place at the 2026 World Championship in Hulst confirms that she remains competitive against the best specialists, making her potential arrival at Fenix-Premier Tech a perfect fit for the team's multidisciplinary character.

The possible signing by Fenix-Premier Tech could thus mark the beginning of a new sporting chapter for one of the most important riders in the recent history of women's mountain biking.