'My goal is to see the progression of riders' – Team vies to become first Brish men's Continental squad for three years

Jakroo-Handsling is set to have a new name and a new status for next season, after applying for Continental status for 2027.

It's the culmination of a longstanding plan for the team, who began racing in 2025 as Raptor Racing and are set to compete next year as Pronto Bikes Racing by Promethean – Pronto Bikes being the team's Frome-based sponsor and Promethean the management behind the set-up.

If successful, they would become the first men's UCI Continental team since 2024, which Trinity Racing and Saint Piran were racing in the same category.

This year its riders have posted strong results, with the team finishing second in the National Road Series, and posting three UCI podiums in European races. Some of its strongest riders this season include Jack Rootkin-Gray, who was second in the North Yorkshire GP, as well as the British Gravel Champs, and Oli Dawson, second in the UCI 1.2 GP de la Ville de Nogent-sur-Oise in July.

The team is all about helping riders build towards the pro ranks, says team principal Tony Poole, and the move to Continental ranks is a further step in that direction.

"We had a target of being competitive on the National Road and Crit series domestically, but also trying to provide as many UCI opportunities for the riders," he told Cycling Weekly. "With riders trying to build a pathway into joining the pro ranks, they need the exposure against the WorldTour devo teams, and so they need those UCI race days alongside the domestic calendar."

A move to the Continental ranks, said Poole, "enables access to races and events that we otherwise wouldn't get access to. Whereas, as an international British team, we were not always first among the UCI race organisers".

Poole and his colleagues have provided British Cycling a fully-funded plan for next season, with all of BC's "red lines" – such as the provision of bicycles and insurance – catered for. He is confident the application will be a success, although, as he said, "Obviously it's not done till it's done, so we're still working on our side on delivering everything that's needed for the application, and that's the only way it can be."

As to the team's goals next year, they have targeted 30 UCI events. But, says Poole, his main hope is just to see his riders develop.

"Personally, my goal is to see the progression of riders. That's what I want to see. I want to see us delivering riders into 2028 with better opportunities than they had in 2027. So that's the goal for us," he told CW.