Jayco-AlUla and Liv Racing-TeqFind will be merged into one Women's WorldTeam in 2024, combining under the Australian squad’s GreenEDGE umbrella and forming a new development squad to run alongside the combined top-tier women's team.
The two Liv sponsored Women’s WorldTeams are being brought together with the stated aim of creating an international breeding ground for cycling talent that runs alongside a Women’s WorldTeam that is looking to grow into one of the worlds best.
“For us, this is a huge step forward and a valuable one for female riders,” said Jayco-AlUla general manager Brent Copeland. ”To have a structured development pathway in place for any rider is not only an important part of a rider’s career, but is something that we feel is lacking for the women’s peloton in particular.
“Unlike the men’s peloton, there is currently no competitive under 23 category and the step up from junior to elite level is huge. We are passionate about this new mission and believe it will be extremely beneficial, not only for the riders on the programmes, but inspiring for the upcoming younger generation, to envisage a career pathway.”
The Women's WorldTour calendar has grown considerably in recent seasons, as have the number of top tier teams and rider numbers per squad but the dedicated road races for the women's U23 category to help along the pathway to that top level are still rarely seen on the road. There is an U23 European Championships road race but it was just in 2022 that a women's jersey was first awarded for the category at the Road World Championships, plus that was for the first rider over the line in a combined race with the elite, severely limiting the number of young riders able to get selection in the first place.
Also while the Women's WorldTour has grown to 15 teams in 2023, there is a marked disparity among them, with SD Worx dominating the results and points tally, all the remaining teams except Lidl-Trek and Canyon-SRAM – which started a development team in 2022 – have less than half the ranking points of SD Worx.
The merger, with the development team as part of the plan, should help tackle both the issues of WorldTour team strength – with Jayco-AlUla currently ranked 15th and Liv Racing-TeqFind 17th – and development pathways, with Liv committing to the partnership through to 2027.
“We are extremely happy to take next steps in the further professionalisation of women’s cycling with Liv Cycling," said Eric Van den Boom, Liv Racing-TeqFind Team Owner & Manager. "Together we have a long history of establishing a solid foundation for the sport. This is now in place, with good training facilities and guidance and an appealing race programme.
"In the phase we are in now, we see that a different approach is required to further increase the success of women’s cycling and its reach. The absolute top is getting stronger, for the youngest generations the step to the high WorldTour level is sometimes hard to overcome."
The announcement did not discuss the planned composition of the development team or merged Women's WorldTeam for 2024 but Jayco-Alula currently have seven riders already confirmed as under contract for next season – Teniel Campbell, Ingvild Gåskjenn, Georgie Howe, Amber Pate, Letizia Paternoster, Alyssa Polites and Urška Žigart – while Liv Racing-TeqFind have Spanish champion Mavi García, Caroline Andersson and Rachele Barbieri.
"We have been honoured to sponsor Team Jayco AlUla and Liv Racing TeqFind these past years, and it is clear this merge of the two teams ... and the start of the GreenEDGE Cycling Development Team will give way to even more possibilities for the athletes to reach the top of the WorldTour level, and bring more women and girls into pro-cycling,” said Liv Cycling founder Bonnie Tu.
