2025 Preview #19 – Liv AlUla Jayco

Reasons to be cheerful in 2024, despite a lack of victories

Of the 13 wins accrued by Liv AlUla Jayco through the course of 2024, 7 of them were achieved in National Championships, with their Antipodean contingent picking up three victories, while Urška Žigart and Teniel Campbell both swept the board in their home nations of Slovenia and Trinidad & Tobago respectively.

Beyond that, there was not a huge amount to shout about in terms of actual victories. While the team completely dominated at the Vuelta Ciclista Andalucia at the end of May, taking all three stages and the general classification with Mavi Garcia, there was just one World Tour level triumph to celebrate – Ruby Roseman Gannon’s stunning sprint to shock Team SD Worx-ProTime at the Tour of Britain Women.

Letizia Paternoster rounded out the year with a win at the Tour de Gatineau in Canada, but while the wins were few and far between in 2024, it was a year in which there was still plenty to be uplifted by. Following the merger between Liv Racing TeqFind and Jayco AlUla at the end of 2023, much of the season was about transition and adaptation, as many riders were finding their way with new equipment and a new team of both staff and riders around them.

There was plenty to celebrate in terms of development for the future: Silke Smulders took a step up and proved she was one to look out for in 2025, Roseman-Gannon impressed with a resilient ride to take 6^th place at the Road World Championships in Zurich, and Paternoster rode a spirited spring Classics campaign, proving she was more than just a track star by finishing in the top ten at three of the cobbled Classics, including a podium finish at Dwars Door Vlaanderen and an impressive top 10 at De Ronde.

A muted transfer season

While 2023 saw the team undergo a great deal of upheaval due to the merger, the 2024 transfer was by contrast, relatively quiet. Having said that, the team sustained a few losses including the Slovenian Champion, Urška Žigart, who is seeking a new challenge at AG Insurance-Soudal. Along with her goes Alex Manly. The Aussie rider has been with the GreenEdge branch of the organisation since she began her professional career. Finally, the Norwegian Ingvild Gåskjenn, who had a break-out season in 2024, making the podium at the Amstel Gold Race and performing extremely well at La Vuelta Femenina. makes a move to her ‘home’ side Uno-X Mobility. Teniel Campbell also departs the team, as she heads for a new chapter.

Replacing the four departures are three riders all making a step up from continental level. The first of them is an in-house promotion, as the 25-year-old Dutchwoman Amber van der Hulst makes the step up from the team’s continental squad. A promising sprinter, van der Hulst has achieved competitive results riding against the fastest women in the peloton, but missed the entire 2023 season due to a femoral artery injury. The second signing is 28-year-old Australian Josie Talbot, who arrives from Cofidis. Though she has achieved just one pro level victory, a stage win at the Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées in June of last year, Talbot has shown her capabilities in one-day races and will hope to advance her career with the team.

Finally, and perhaps the least known of the new recruits for the Australian side, is the Italian Monica Trinca Colonel. Joining the team from Italian conti outfit BePink-Bongioanni, Colonel has not yet won a professional race, but has impressed in recent years and in particular in 2024 with consistent performances throughout the season, including a podium finish on GC at the Tour Feminin l'Ardeche, among esteemed company.

Key players in the spotlight

One of the smaller squads of the Women’s World Tour, Liv AlUla Jayco may not have a broad range of tools in their arsenal when it comes to having the competitive edge across every type of parcours, so it’s important for them to focus on building an optimal programme of races to give themselves the best possible chance of fighting for wins, alongside preparing their best riders to perform for the key goals of the season.

Of these key players, the team’s top scorer in terms of UCI points in 2024 was Mavi Garcia. At 41, the veteran Spaniard is the oldest rider in the women’s World Tour peloton, and with her extensive experience and climbing expertise, the team will continue to rely on Garcia to perform even at this late stage in her career. She didn’t have the best of seasons by her own standards in 2024, despite her domination at the Ruta Del Sol in Andalucia, losing the Spanish title that she had defended for four years prior, and she will hope to return to the kind of form that saw her finish on the podium at the 2022 Giro d’Italia, in 2025. She has made a strong start, just missing out to Marlen Reusser on her first race-day of the season, at the Trofeo Palma just two days ago, proving that she still has what it takes to challenge for the win.

Beyond Garcia, next in line to take on the mantle of team leadership when it comes to stage races is undoubtedly the Dutch 23-year-old Silke Smulders. After a steady rise in form in 2024 which culminated in her almost taking a stunning breakaway victory at the SIMAC Ladies Tour, Smulders picked up where she left off at the Tour Down Under, coming second on two of the three stages, and on the overall. It can only be a matter of time until she breaks through and takes that first big victory, and the team will likely put their trust in her to lead them in the races that Garcia doesn’t target.

Another young talent to keep an eye on is Ella Wyllie. The 22-year-old is the reigning New Zealand road race champion and has shown great promise in the past couple of seasons, and is really one to watch for the future.

Alongside promising GC riders, the team has a solid set of fast women and Classics specialists, with last season’s World Championship road race surprise package Ruby Roseman-Gannon developing into a strong one-day rider with a fast finish, capable of hanging with the top riders of the sport and managing tricky parcours, despite her sprinting capabilities. Finally, track specialist Letizia Paternoster is a dark horse for the cobbled Classics, following her stand-out spring in 2024 – another rider with a fast finish, Paternoster proved she could handle herself in the Flanders Classics, notching up two top tens and one podium finish.

Consolidation and Development

On the whole, after a couple of years of transition and upheaval, 2025 should be a year in which Liv AlUla Jayco can begin to consolidate and set their sights on the future. Though their squad is on the small side, it’s well-balanced, with riders for every occasion, though they may begin to struggle if they are unlucky with illness or injury. With the strong support of experienced all-rounders such as Jeanne Korevaar and Georgia Baker, and developing multi-disciplinarian Caroline Andersson, and attacking breakaway specialists Amber Pate and Quinty Ton, the team really do seem to have all bases covered, despite the fact that they may not be world leaders in any one area.

The team’s trump card, however, may be their newly established development squad, brought to life just last season, which provides a fluid feeder system that the team’s management can use to enhance the squad in times of need, alongside offering chances to younger or less experienced riders to gain vital race experience to prepare them for potential promotion to the World Tour team when the time is right. The squad includes a host of talent including none other than the newly minted Australian National road race champion, Lucinda Stewart, who will likely have an eye on taking a step up from time to time during the season, to show off her hard-earned stripes.

It’s a model to be lauded – sustainable and organic, with the potential for continued growth. And let’s not forget, with the stunning MAAP kit they will be sporting on the road, whatever the team gets up to in 2025, they’re going to look good doing it.

Enjoyed this? Check out our previous women's World Tour Team previews:

AG Insurance-Soudal, Canyon//SRAM-zondacrypto, Ceratizit-WNT, FDJ SUEZ, Fenix-Deceuninck, Human Powered Health, Lidl-Trek