2025 Preview #23 – Team Jayco AlUla

All images: Wikimedia Commons

2024, consolidating their place

In the past few years, Jayco AlUla have proven that they are a decent World Tour team, finishing in the middle of the pack. Last season was a confirmation of this, even if the Australian team managed to finish the year with 25 wins, their best total since 2019. The most important of these successes was the Grand Prix de Québec, won by the veteran Michael Matthews. At 34 years old, the Australian also managed to finish second at Milano-Sanremo and third at the Ronde van Vlaanderen, before being relegated to 11^th by the jury.

Jayco AlUla riders also showed consistency on the Grand Tours: the team always had a rider in the top 12 of the general classifications. Indeed, Simon Yates ended up in 12^th place oatthe Tour de France while the former Italian champion Filippo Zana rounded up his national Grand Tour in 11^th place, as did Eddie Dunbar at La Vuelta. The latter also managed to win two stages during the Spanish Grand Tour, his first successes at the World Tour level.

Jayco AlUla also had a rider raising his arms at the Tour de France, thanks to Dylan Groenewegen who won his sixth stage of the biggest race in the world. The Dutchman also became champion of the Netherlands for the second time in his career, after a bunch sprint that he won ahead of Olav Kooij. On the other hand, Caleb Ewan had a really difficult season, winning only twice and being almost invisible in the major races he took part in. Overall, Jayco AlUla finished 2024 in 14^th place of the UCI classification, assuring almost certainly the conservation of their World Tour license for 2026.

Numerous changes

This interseason was really important for Jayco AlUla. Indeed, the Australian team has lost one of the best riders of the team’s history with Simon Yates joining Visma-Lease a Bike. The British rider, former winner of La Vuelta, was the team's best card in the mountains and he had to be replaced.

For the future role of team leader, Brent Copeland and his staff chose to bet on Ben O’Connor. The Australian had the best season of his career in 2024, being consistent throughout the year. Indeed, the former rider of Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale finished second at La Vuelta, at the World Championships and at the UAE Tour but also recorded a top 5 at the Giro and at Tirreno-Adriatico. At 29 years old, the native of Subiaco has raised his arms at all three Grand Tours during his career and could be an excellent replacement for Yates. With his new team, O’Connor will aim for the Tour de France in 2025, with the objective of performing as well as last season.

Alongside O’Connor, other climbers also joined Jayco AlUla for 2025. Among them, Koen Bouwman may be the most experienced. At 31 years old, the stand-out race of the Dutchman’s career is undeniably his 2022 Giro, where he brought home the KOM jersey along with two stages. Last season, Bouwman triumphed at the Settimana Inter Coppi e Bartali, his first success on a stage race. Another great addition for the hills is the Brit Paul Double, who will discover the World Tour level after a few seasons in ProConti teams. The 28-year-old never has never won at the professional level but he finished the 2024 Tour of Turkey in third. In addition to these two, the Olympic mountain-bike bronze medallist Alan Hatherly could also be one of the revelations of the season, already proving his great climbing abilities on the AlUla Tour.

Outside of the climbing field, Jayco AlUla also strengthened their one-day race squad. First of all, the experienced German Jasha Sutterlin should embrace the role of road captain. The former Bahrain-Victorious rider could also have his chance during the Flanders Classics, races that he particularly likes. In the same domain, the former ITT Austrian champion Patrick Gamper could also be a great addition, as well as the young Brit Bob Donaldson who finished second at Paris-Roubaix U23 last season. Finally, Jelte Krijnsen will discover the World Tour level after his great end to the 2024 season, during which he triumphed at the Tour of Taihu Lake. The Dane, Asbjorn Hellemose, completes the Jayco AlUla roster for 2025.

Ben O'Connor, the season after

2025 will be a key year in the career of Ben O’Connor. After a wonderful 2024 season, the Australian will have to confirm his amazing performances with his new team. At 29 years old, he is entering the prime years of his career and will surely have at heart the aim of proving to his new team that they made the right choice by choosing him to replace Simon Yates.

O’Connor burst into the consciousness of the cycling world during the 2021 Tour de France, during which he took the fourth place overall, thanks to an amazing breakaway that saw him raise his arms in Tignes. If the Australian had difficulties confirming this incredible result in the years that followed, he proved in 2024 that he was one of the best climbers on the planet. Indeed, after a brilliant beginning of the season where he triumphed at the top of Jebel Jais, O’Connor took on the Giro, where he was one of the most consistent through the three weeks. After his fourth place, the next objective of the Aussie was the Vuelta, where he shone even more. Despite some complicated first days, the native of Subiaco benefited from a breakaway in the stage of Yunquera to complete the challenge of winning a stage on all three Grand Tours but also taking the lead in the general classification. O’Connor managed to keep the red jersey almost until Madrid, as he conceded it to Primoz Roglič at the end of the 18^th stage.

With his new team, O’Connor will hope to repeat these amazing performances at the Tour de France, that will be his main objective of the season. It will be very interesting to see if the former Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale rider will be able to stick with the best climbers on Earth once again in 2025, especially without an armada around him. Indeed, only the Irish Eddie Dunbar is announced for the mountains squad of the Tour de France thus far, and despite the strength of the double stage winner at the last Vuelta, it is not a lot compared to the best teams in the peloton. Filippo Zana and Luke Plapp, two of the best climbers of Jayco AlUla, should take on the Giro and therefore will not be able to help their new leaders on the French roads of July.

A duo of quick men

Outside of Ben O’Connor, the main source of success for Jayco AlUla in 2025 could come from fast men. Indeed, if Michael Matthews is not a pure sprinter, he has shown in the past that he was one to watch in a small group finish, whereas Dylan Groenewegen can be described as one of the best sprinters in the international peloton.

At 31 years old, Dylan Groenewegen has begun his fourth season with the Greenedge structure at the AlUla Tour. Since his arrival, the Dutchman confirmed his place as one of the quickest men in the world, recording many stage wins. One of the favourite races of the recent champion of the Netherlands is the Tour de France, where he managed to raise his arms six times since 2017. The native of Amsterdam showed his affinity with the biggest race in the world last season, as he triumphed in Dijon, on the sixth stage of the French Grand Tour. 2025 should see the former winner of Brugge-De Panne returning to the Tour, with the aim of winning again. Before that, Dylan Groenewegen will continue his season in the Middle-East, at the UAE Tour.

Michael Matthews has always been one of the faces of Jayco AlUla and its predecessors. Indeed, the man from Canberra has begun his ninth season with the Australian team, with whom he has found plenty of success. If Matthews sometimes lacks pure speed in a bunch peloton, he has very good climbing capacities, that allowed him to triumph three times at the Grand Prix of Québec. The former green jersey of the Tour de France also raised his arms at least three times at each Grand Tour and enjoyed a really good 2024 season, with a second place at Milano-Sanremo. The Classics campaign will be a big objective for Matthews, as he will hope to challenge the best from La Classicissima to Liège-Bastogne-Liège. His experience will also surely be beneficial for his team, especially for the youngest riders.

 Enjoyed this? Check out our previous men's WT previews:

Alpecin-Deceuninck, Arkéa-B&B Hotels, Astana Qazaqstan, Bahrain-Victorious, Cofidis, Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, EF Education-EasyPost, Groupama-FDJ, INEOS Grenadiers, Intermarché-Wanty, Lidl-Trek, Movistar, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, Soudal-QuickStep