Olha Kulynych will join VolkerWessels Cycling Team for the 2027 season, moving from Eneicat-Be Call after a year that has underlined her strength on hilly and mountainous terrain.
The 26-year-old Ukrainian has spent much of her career racing for smaller European teams, but her 2026 results have shown she can compete consistently in stronger international fields. She finished ninth overall at the Volta a Catalunya Femenina, fifth at the Giro Toscana and eighth at the Gran Premio Ciudad de Eibar, while also taking second in the Ukrainian road championship.
VolkerWessels described Kulynych as a rider with clear climbing ability and room to develop further. Kulynych said she had followed the Dutch team for some time and was attracted by both its racing style and its reputation for developing riders.
Kulynych arrives after a strong 2026 season
Kulynych’s best stage-race result of the year came at the Volta a Catalunya Femenina in June, where she finished ninth overall. Her key ride came on the mountainous second stage to La Molina, where she placed 10th on the day and kept herself inside the top 10 on general classification.
ProCyclingUK covered the decisive La Molina stage, which was won by Paula Blasi. Kulynych’s result there was one of the clearest examples this season of the climbing strength VolkerWessels highlighted in announcing her signing.
She had already shown similar form a week earlier at the Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées. Kulynych finished 12th overall and sixth on the final stage, another selective day that rewarded riders able to stay competitive over repeated climbs. Eline Jansen won that final stage, giving Kulynych an early taste of racing against one of the riders who has been central to VolkerWessels’ recent development.
Her spring also included eighth at the Gran Premio Ciudad de Eibar and 14th at the Gran Premio della Liberazione Donne. At the Ukrainian championships in June, she finished second in the road race behind Yuliia Biriukova and fourth in the individual time trial.
Fifth at Giro Toscana confirms late-season form
Kulynych carried that consistency into the second half of the year. At the Giro Toscana she finished fifth overall and seventh on the final stage, another result that suited a rider whose best performances tend to come when races become selective rather than tactical sprints.
The Italian race has been particularly important throughout her career. Kulynych won a stage there in 2023 and finished third overall in 2024, making her 2026 fifth place another strong return at an event where she has repeatedly performed well.
That consistency is likely to be one of the main attractions for VolkerWessels. Kulynych is not moving as a high-volume winner, but she has shown she can repeatedly place well in stage races and hilly one-day events, which gives the team another option for selective racing alongside its more established leaders.
A career built around climbing and stage races
Kulynych’s professional career began in 2020 with Ciclotel, before spells with Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus, Duolar-Chevalmeire and Fenix-Deceuninck’s development structure. She spent two seasons with Fenix-Deceuninck Development Team in 2024 and 2025 before joining Eneicat-Be Call for 2026.
Her strongest earlier season came in 2023, when she won the Tour de Feminin overall and took a stage victory at the Giro Toscana. Those results established her as a rider capable of converting climbing strength into stage-race success rather than simply collecting placings.
She also won the mountains classification at the 2024 Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, another result that fits the profile VolkerWessels are bringing into the team. At 48kg and with a history of performing well on sustained climbs, Kulynych offers a different option to the team’s faster one-day riders.
VolkerWessels continue shaping their 2027 squad
Kulynych joins a VolkerWessels roster that has already undergone several changes ahead of 2027. The team have added Floortje Mackaij on a two-year deal, while Maaike Boogaard, Maud Rijnbeek and Lonneke Uneken have all extended their contracts.
ProCyclingUK reported Mackaij’s move to VolkerWessels earlier this month, while Boogaard, Rijnbeek and Uneken were confirmed for 2027 soon afterwards.
Kulynych said the team’s development environment was an important part of her decision, particularly the support offered both on and off the bike. She also pointed to VolkerWessels’ aggressive racing style, saying the team is usually visible in every race it enters.
For VolkerWessels, the signing adds experience without sacrificing development potential. Kulynych arrives at 26 with seven seasons of elite racing behind her, but her 2026 results suggest there is still scope for another step if the team can give her more consistent opportunities in the races that best suit her.
