FDJ United-Suez win fight for one of cycling's biggest talents as 17-year-old Anja Grossmann steps straight into WorldTour
Swiss rider just became mountain bike world champion, and will ride for one of the best teams on the road in 2027
Junior star Anja Grossmann will step into the WorldTour ranks with FDJ United-Suez in 2027, with the French team securing the signature of one of the most exciting talents coming out of the youth ranks.
Grossmann, who is still only 17, became junior mountain bike world champion just a few days ago, after bursting onto many radars last autumn when she finished on the podium at the World and European Championships as a first-year junior. She dedicated these results to her compatriot Muriel Furrer, who died at the World Championships in 2024.
Eyes will have been on Grossmann since her Worlds and Europeans rides, and her stock has only grown in her second year of juniors, doing the double at the Swiss national championships, and finishing second atop the Grand Colombier in the Valromey Tour Féminin.
On the mountain bike, her rainbow jersey comes after winning the European Championships in both 2025 and 2026, and winning every single MTB race she started this season.
She rides for Trinity Racing, who are sponsored by Specalized, which also sponsors FDJ United-Suez.
She is widely touted as one of the very best talents coming out of the junior ranks and a future star of the pro peloton, so it is promising – though perhaps not surprising – that the best-ranked team were the ones to secure her future.
"Joining FDJ UNITED-SUEZ is a dream come true," she said in a team statement. "I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to continue pursuing my dreams alongside such an incredible team, both on the road and in cyclo-cross. I can’t wait to discover everything that lies ahead."
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Her mention of cyclo-cross was interesting, and may add further fuel to the rumours that FDJ United-Suez are planning to launch a cyclo-cross set-up in the near future, led primarily by Célia Gery.
Grossmann didn't race the CX season last year, but was European champion at fourth at the World Championships in 2024/25.
My view
Where Grossmann is going has been one of the biggest topics of conversation all summer, with many people in women's cycling seeing her as pretty much the biggest talent on the market and a future Grand Tour contender. I don't think they're wrong. FDJ United-Suez seems like a pretty natural destination in the end, and a deal that is mutually beneficial; they will have wanted her, but I also think FDJ now have the reputation that a team like SD Worx used to have, as the team where all young riders want to go. It's undoubtedly a good place for young riders – any rider – and the pressure will be off, but the only question is for how long. Grossmann is strong enough and ambitious enough to want leadership opportunities soon, and it will be interesting to see where she fits into FDJ's stacked squad.
FDJ have been gradually bolstering their line-up since the arrival of Demi Vollering nearly two years ago, most recently welcoming Kate Courtney to the team along with new sponsor Red Bull, and the acquisition of Grossmann seems to not only confirm their commitment to finding new talent, but a further step into the world of multidiscipline stars.
"We are very proud to welcome Anja for the next two seasons and to support her in the first steps of her professional career. Anja perfectly embodies what we want to build: a young, multidisciplinary, talented, ambitious athlete with so much still to discover," said team manager Stephen Delcourt.
"Our role is to believe in these talents, to give them the time, the environment, and the resources to grow and pursue their dreams. The future isn't something you wait for; it's something you build today. And we are very happy to begin this adventure with Anja."
Grossmann has one more chance to end her already highly successful junior career on a high at the Road World Championships in Montréal, where she will be a big favourite to add another rainbow jersey to her collection before joining the pro ranks.
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Matilda is an NCTJ-qualified journalist based in the UK who joined Cyclingnews in March 2025. Prior to that, she worked as the Racing News Editor at GCN, and extensively as a freelancer contributing to Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Velo, Rouleur, Escape Collective, Red Bull and more. She has reported on the ground at all of the biggest events on the calendar, including the men's and women's Tours de France, the Giro d'Italia, the Vuelta a Espana, the Spring Classics and the World Championships. She has particular experience and expertise in women's cycling, and women's sport in general. She is a graduate of modern languages and sports journalism.
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