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Follow us on GoogleAt the end of each cycling season, IDLProCycling.com takes the time to review each team. In this episode, it is the turn of the Australian Jayco AlUla, one of the 18 teams at the highest level in cycling.
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One-day races 2025: Jayco AlUla
Did you know that Jayco AlUla has managed to win two WorldTour-level one-day races? At the beginning of the year, Swiss rider Mauro Schmid won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Geelong, which is quite an achievement for an Australian team. Additionally, Michael Matthews won the Eschborn-Frankfurt race.
From March onwards, the team leader only rode one-day races, competing in the finals of races such as the Amstel Gold Race, Tour of Flanders, Milan-Sanremo, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Other than that, it must be said that the team's performance in one-day races was relatively poor, although Alan Hatherly did win the Mountain Bike World Championships.
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(Grand) tours 2025: Jayco AlUla
Then there were the tours, where Ben O'Connor had to replace Simon Yates, who went to Visma | Lease a Bike. The Aussie didn't quite manage that, although his magnificent victory in the queen stage of the Tour de France was still a pretty nice consolation prize. He also finished eleventh in that same Tour.
Other than that, Paul Double managed to save the day in the final months of the season by winning the Tour of Slovakia and the WorldTour race Tour of Guangxi in succession. The team also finished the Giro with stage wins by Luke Plapp and Chris Harper, which was more than satisfactory.
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Final score 2025: Jayco AlUla
All in all, Jayco AlUla had a great season, with a few minor ups and downs. The real icing on the cake—which O'Connor did achieve the year before at Decathlon AG2R—was perhaps missing, which brings us to a final score of 6.3 for the team.
Transfers 2025/2026: Jayco AlUla
Jayco AlUla starts the coming season with a weaker selection on paper. With Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets), the team's top sprinter, left, and Elmar Reinders and Max Walscheid, who are going for Lidl-Trek, will also be missed. Additionally, the team lost a significant amount of climbing power with the departures of Chris Harper, Eddie Dunbar (Q36.5), and Filippo Zana (Soudal Quick-Step).
In return, it gained experience, versatility, and attacking spirit with Andrea Vendrame, Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R), Alessandro Covi (UAE Emirates-XRG), and Amaury Capiot (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), along with the youthfulness of Hamish McKenzie and Will Holmes from the U23 team. At the time of writing, the WorldTour license for next year has not yet been finalized so that further developments may be forthcoming. That will be necessary, because the team currently has only twenty riders.
Transfers in: Andrea Vendrame, Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R), Alessandro Covi (UAE Emirates-XRG), Amaury Capiot (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), Hamish McKenzie and Will Holmes (Hagens Berman Jayco)
Transfers out: Dylan Groenewegen, Elmar Reinders (Unibet Rose Rockets), Max Walscheid (Lidl-Trek), Eddie Dunbar, Chris Harper (Q36.5), Alessandro de Marchi (quits) and Filippo Zana (Soudal Quick-Step)
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Ones to watch 2026: Jayco AlUla
For 2026, it will be interesting to see how Alan Hatherly develops on the road after coming from mountain biking. Last season, we already saw glimpses of talent from the South African, who may be able to show even more in his second year as a pro. Big leader Ben O'Connor will also want to get more out of 2026 than he did last season.
It will also be interesting to see how Koen Bouwman and Jelte Krijnsen perform. Neither Dutchman had a great debut season with the Aussies, but that's certainly not due to a lack of talent. Will they bounce back in 2026?
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Tom van der Salm (27) comes from the charming town of Zeilberg (Deurne) in the Netherlands and has been working as editor-in-chief & journalist at IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, In de Leiderstrui, since 2019. He travels with the peloton from the Tour de France to the AlUla Tour and from the World Championships in Rwanda or Canada to the Zilvermeercross in Mol. In his spare time he enjoys playing football, mountain biking, running, walking with his Labrador/Stabyhoun, investing, holidays, (specialty) beers, reading, cooking and watching sports & documentaries!
Contact: [email protected]
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Latest Comments
- I’m still learning the calendar: is cyclocross mainly preparation for the spring classics, or does he race it as a separate goal as well? I’d love to see him back in the mud.jeremya04-11-2026
- The article makes it sound as if Roubaix is the only classic where he has a realistic shot. He’s been close in Flanders too, and one good tactical day can change everything.jennifer1904-11-2026
- Milan-Sanremo and Roubaix is a pretty special pair of Monuments. Any clues yet on which cyclocross races he’ll target?andrewf04-11-2026
- He’s right to be realistic about Flanders with Pogačar and Evenepoel around, but you can’t count Van Aert out on those roads. If he gets the right opportunity, he has the engine and experience to take it.davidm04-11-2026
- That Roubaix win felt like such a release after all the near-misses. Brilliant to hear that joy outweighed relief for Wout.patriciaw04-11-2026
- Why would a mountain time trial be different from a normal one? Is it just that the riders have to climb the whole course?samanthak03-11-2026
- I don’t quite buy the “fear of failure” argument. Riders can race the Giro and still have confidence in July; it comes down to recovery and planning, doesn’t it?patriciaw03-11-2026
- The Giro-Tour double is a massive ask, even for the very best. Pogačar made it look almost routine in 2024, but that’s hardly a sensible benchmark for everyone else!pedalpowe2903-11-2026
- Bakelants makes a fair point: if the 2027 Tour really suits Remco, he can’t afford to dilute the build-up. That 37km flat TT will be tempting, mind.julien03-11-2026
- Mont Blanc sounds like a spectacular finish, though four climbs on the final day might be a bit much after eight hard stages. Hope the route details are clear soon.raceready703-11-2026