Kathrin Schweinberger will remain with Human Powered Health through the 2027 season after signing a one-year contract extension with the American Women’s WorldTour team.
The 29-year-old Austrian has become a regular part of the team’s sprint and Classics groups since joining from Ceratizit-WNT ahead of 2025. Her first two seasons with Human Powered Health have brought another Austrian road race title, regular top-10 finishes and an increasingly established role as both a finisher and part of the team’s wider sprint structure.
Schweinberger has seven top-10 finishes and two podiums during 2026, including second at Veenendaal-Veenendaal behind Charlotte Kool. She remains without a victory this season, however, and getting back onto the top step is one of the main targets behind extending her stay.
“Winning is a big goal of mine,” Schweinberger said. “I’m really motivated to show that I can do it. Giving back and taking my chances when I get them is really important to me.”
Schweinberger has become a reliable sprint option for Human Powered Health
Schweinberger originally joined Human Powered Health ahead of the 2025 season on a two-year agreement, moving across after three seasons with Ceratizit-WNT.
The initial plan was already built around a mixed role. Human Powered Health saw her as a rider capable of taking her own sprint opportunities while also working in the lead-out for teammates when another finisher had the better chance.
That remains broadly how she fits the team two years later.
Schweinberger is not a pure sprinter in the mould of Lorena Wiebes or Kool, but that can work in her favour when a race contains enough difficulty to remove some of the quickest riders. Her ability to get through rolling terrain and harder one-day races before contesting the finish has made her useful across a broader section of the calendar.
Her ProCyclingUK rider profile reflects that variety, with results spread across flat sprints, Classics and shorter stage races rather than concentrated in one type of event.
Human Powered Health general manager Ro De Jonckere described her as an integral part of the squad.
“She has shown that she can compete at the highest level,” he said. “We know there’s more to come down the road from Kathrin on the WorldTour because we have already seen it.”
Veenendaal showed how the sprint group can work around her
One of Schweinberger’s clearest opportunities in 2026 came at Veenendaal-Veenendaal in May.
Human Powered Health committed several riders to putting her into position, with Carlotta Cipressi, Wiktoria Pikulik, Lily Williams, Jente Koops and Maggie Coles-Lyster combining during the run towards the finish.
Kool ultimately proved too quick, but Schweinberger took second ahead of Nienke Veenhoven.
The Veenendaal-Veenendaal race report showed the value of giving Schweinberger a structured lead-out rather than leaving her to find wheels alone in the final kilometres.
It also fitted the progression she had made during 2025.
That first season with Human Powered Health produced 16 top-10 finishes and five podiums. Schweinberger also won the Austrian road race championship for the third time and finished third overall at the Tour de Pologne Women.
The quantity of results has been lower this year, but she has continued to appear around the top 10 when races suit her.
Fourmies underlined Schweinberger’s consistency
Schweinberger also finished fifth at La Choralis Fourmies Féminine in September, continuing an unusually stable pattern at the race.
The first five riders were identical to the 2025 edition, with Wiebes winning ahead of Lara Gillespie, Gladys Verhulst-Wild, Veenhoven and Schweinberger.
As ProCyclingUK noted in what the 2026 Fourmies result meant for the season, the revised and slightly harder route still did not fundamentally disrupt the hierarchy among the fastest riders who could survive the earlier racing.
For Schweinberger, fifth behind four established finishers was another example of where she currently sits.
She is regularly close enough to contest high-level sprints, but converting those positions into victories remains the next step.
That is something she openly wants to address in 2027.
Team environment played a major part in the extension
Schweinberger pointed repeatedly to the environment within Human Powered Health when explaining why she wanted to continue.
“After last year, I already felt really comfortable in the team and benefited from all of the support from the staff,” she said. “When everyone is pushing in the same direction and aiming high, it creates a really exciting environment to be part of.”
That continuity is increasingly characteristic of the team.
The Human Powered Health 2026 Women’s WorldTour team guide highlighted a squad built more around shared responsibility and depth than a rigid hierarchy. Schweinberger fits that model particularly well because her role can change considerably depending on the race.
On one day she can be the protected sprinter. On another she can work for somebody else or use her strength earlier in a selective race.
“For me, what is really important is that the team is really professional, but also the atmosphere and vibes are excellent, so you don’t feel a huge pressure,” she said. “When I am home, I’m always excited to rejoin the team, and that’s an important feeling for me to have.”
Schweinberger still wants more from her own results
The extension is not being presented simply as a reward for reliable support work.
Schweinberger still believes there is another level available individually.
She described 2025 as the biggest step forward of her career and credited the combination of team support and Human Powered Health’s performance programme with helping her reach it.
The Wellesley Performance Lab has become a regular part of that process, with the team using testing, bike fitting and wider health monitoring to identify areas where riders can improve. Schweinberger has also spoken positively about racing on Factor’s ONE aero bike during 2026, particularly in sprint-focused events.
Those details matter because the difference between regularly reaching the top five and actually winning can be small.
At 29, Schweinberger is not being developed as a long-term prospect. Human Powered Health are retaining a rider already capable of producing results while trying to find the improvement that converts consistency into victories.
Her 2027 contract gives both sides another season to do it.
“I’m looking forward to building on the foundation we created together,” Schweinberger said.
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Photo Credit: Getty
After two years in which Schweinberger has increasingly become part of the core of Human Powered Health’s sprint and Classics squads, the objective for the third is straightforward: keep the consistency, but turn more of those opportunities into wins.
