Czech junior road champion Karolína Špicarová will join AG Insurance-Soudal’s development programme for the 2027 season, making the move after a breakthrough year with VIF Cycling Development Team.
The 18-year-old will step into the under-23 ranks after a season in which she won the Czech junior road title, took third in the national junior time trial and produced several strong results in international junior racing. AG Insurance-Soudal confirmed her arrival in the team’s announcement.
Špicarová joins the same development pathway that AG Insurance-Soudal are continuing to build around riders making the transition from junior racing towards the WorldTour. The team have already confirmed European junior road champion Azzurra Ballan for 2027, giving the squad two of the more prominent riders from this year’s junior class.
A strong 2026 season in Czech and international racing
Špicarová’s clearest breakthrough came at the Czech championships in June, where she won the junior road race after placing third in the time trial two days earlier. That result was followed by a successful July block in France and the Netherlands.
She won the opening race of the Valromey Tour Féminin in July, beating Anja Grossmann and Neve Parslow, before taking third the following day and sixth in the final uphill time trial. Later that month she finished fifth overall at the Watersley Ladies Challenge and was second on the final stage.
Those performances carried into the championship part of the season. Špicarová finished 13th in the junior road race at the World Championships in Montréal and again took 13th at the European Championships in Slovenia, where Czech teammate Eva Drhová finished sixth.
From cross-country skiing to a full cycling pathway
Špicarová has developed as a dual-sport athlete, combining cycling with cross-country skiing through her junior years. She represented Czechia in skiing at the 2025 European Youth Olympic Festival in Bakuriani, finishing seventh in the 7.5km freestyle race and 11th over 5km classical.
Her cycling results have since accelerated. VIF Cycling Team have used their development structure to give her access to international junior races and selected elite events, including the GP Lucien Van Impe and Women’s Cycling Grand Prix Stuttgart & Region in 2026.
The move to AG Insurance-Soudal gives her a more direct route into the professional women’s peloton as she leaves the junior category. It is the same structure that will also welcome Azzurra Ballan in 2027, while riders such as Emma Siegers have already progressed from the development set-up into the WorldTour team.
For Špicarová, the first task will be adapting to longer races and a deeper international calendar rather than arriving with immediate WorldTour expectations. Her 2026 season has already shown a useful range, from road-race wins to uphill time trials and selective stage races, giving AG Insurance-Soudal several areas to develop.
The signing will be added to ProCyclingUK’s women’s cycling transfers hub as the 2027 peloton continues to take shape.
