Kristýna Zemanová will race for Crelan-Corendon during the 2026-27 cyclocross season, giving the Belgian team one of the most consistent young riders from last winter’s women’s field.
The 22-year-old Czech rider will make the switch in time for the start of the new cyclocross campaign, with Crelan-Corendon also adding French junior Soren Bruyère Joumard. The two signings are part of the latest recruitment by the Roodhooft brothers, but Zemanová is the more established addition at elite level after a breakthrough 2025-26 winter.
Zemanová adds another front-line option for Crelan-Corendon
Zemanová spent much of last season racing close to the front of the biggest cyclocross events, turning a sequence of top-10 finishes into a genuine challenge for the podium by January. Her best result came at the final World Cup round in Hoogerheide, where she finished second behind Puck Pieterse after staying in contention deep into the final lap.
That performance was one of the clearest signs that Zemanová had moved beyond being an occasional outsider. She had finished fifth at both Benidorm and Maasmechelen in the preceding week, while her second place at Hoogerheide put her just six seconds behind Pieterse and ahead of Amandine Fouquenet.
Zemanová also retained the Czech elite national title in January and went on to finish 11th in the elite women’s race at the World Championships in Hulst. Earlier in her career she had already shown her ability at championship level with medals in the under-23 category, but last winter marked a clear step forward against the full elite field.
That makes the move to Crelan-Corendon a logical next step. The team already has significant experience in women’s cyclocross and provides Zemanová with a structure built specifically around the discipline, rather than requiring her cross programme to sit alongside a road team’s priorities.
Cyclocross move separate from 2027 road programme
The deal is specifically for cyclocross. According to the team announcement, Zemanová will race on the road for Fenix-Premier Tech in 2027, separating her winter and summer programmes between two teams. That arrangement is increasingly familiar among riders who combine road and cyclocross, allowing each discipline to be handled by a squad with specialist resources.
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Bruyère Joumard will follow a similar path. The 18-year-old Frenchman joins Crelan-Corendon for cyclocross after winning junior World Cup rounds at Tábor and Hoogerheide last season, while he is set to race on the road within the Alpecin-Premier Tech structure next year.
For Crelan-Corendon, though, Zemanová is the signing with the most immediate significance in the elite women’s races. Her 2025-26 results already placed her regularly among the riders capable of challenging the established Dutch and Belgian names, and the move gives her a dedicated cyclocross home as she tries to turn that consistency into regular World Cup podiums.
