Leading British Junior Teams Set to Merge to Provide Greater Opportunity and Elevate Performance for British Talent
Image credit - Tim Staes
11th June - Two of Britain’s most successful junior cycling teams have this week confirmed that they’re set to merge in 2026, as Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco and CAMS FH MAS join forces with big ambitions for next season.
The shared objective of both teams is to help young people to make careers in cycling.
Having launched in 2019, CAMS FH MAS has made its name both at home and abroad, winning a number of prestigious races including Junior Liege Bastogne Liege, Danilith Nokere Koerse Juniors, the Junior Tour of Wales, as well as the 2020 & 2024 Junior National Championships Road Race title. Today, 70% of the riders who have been members of the team are either fully fledged professional riders or have been signed to the development arm of a professional team.
Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco features both boys and girls junior teams, each of which have stamped their authority on the international junior racing scene. Victories including three consecutive editions of Women’s Gent Wevelgem, Liege Bastogne Liege, as well as wins at the GP El Baruco and Memorial Chele Del Campo in Spain this year. The team was the first (and so far only) UK team to partner with a men’s and women’s WorldTour team. The new team is working to deepen its links with the WorldTour.
The two teams will merge, creating both a boys and girls junior team combining for a total of up to 24 riders, creating more structured pathways to the WorldTour.
Ian Mansel-Thomas, founder and principal of Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco, commented: “The junior scene at international level, at least on the men’s side, is increasingly being dominated by teams that are part of WT teams – the likes of Grenke Auto Eder (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe), AG2R, Soudal Quickstep, Jegg-Skil-DJR (Visma Lease-a-Bike) and Cannibal B Victorious (Bahrain).
“Our new mixed team for British and Irish riders will be able to compete alongside those teams at the top of junior cycling.”
Giles Pidcock, who set up and still runs the CAMS FH MAS team, said: “We are proud of what we’ve achieved so far but the sport is moving on and at pace. Pooling our resources with Ian’s team will create economies of scale enabling us to invest more into the athletes we support and so we can continue to race at the front.”
Between the two outfits, numerous riders have gone on to find spots in the WorldTour ranks, including Sam Watson (INEOS Grenadiers), Matthew Brennan (Visma Lease-a-Bike), Max Poole (Picnic Post-NL), Carys Lloyd (Movistar), Bob Donaldson (Jayco-AlUla) and Finlay Pickering (Bahrain Victorious). Several others currently race for WorldTour feeder teams and Continental outfits alike.
Details of the naming and sponsorship structure are yet to be announced, but the merger is expected to combine lead partners and sponsors from each team to create a budget and support infrastructure that can continue to compete across the international calendar alongside the world’s leading junior teams.
Tom Copeland
