Bradley Wiggins' son among four riders handed Jayco AlUla World Tour promotion - Australian team look to the future with exciting call-ups
Cycling
Team Jayco AlUla have announced the promotion of four young riders from their development team, handing them their first WorldTour contracts as the Australian team look to the future.
Ben Wiggins, Wil Holmes, Jed Smithson and Adam Raffety all join from the GreenEDGE Cycling development team, Hagens Berman Jayco, with all four bringing strong potential to the team.
Wiggins follows in his Olympics and Tour de France winning father's footsteps as he officially moves up to the top table. He has raced with Jayco AlUla on several occasions in recent seasons and joins off the back of an impressive top ten finish at the Tour of Britain.
Rafferty is another expected promotion after his 2025 Giro Next Gen stage win and top ten. The Irish rider is the under-23 time trial national champion and has represented his nation at several major championships at junior and under-23 level. His older brother, Darren, rides with EF Education-EasyPost.
Team Jayco AlUla
"A work in progress for a couple of years"
Australian Holmes also joins after joining the setup in 2024. Also a national champion at under-23 level in the time trial, the 20-year-old is an exciting edition for the future. British rider Smithson is another to feature for the WorldTour team before his call-up and is one to watch for the future.
“It’s really exciting for us to have four up and coming guys moving into the WorldTour having come through our development team," Head of Performance, Gene Bates, said.
"This has been a work in progress for a couple of years now, particularly with Ben, Adam and Wil. It is inspiring for us to see them make this transition after years of hard work."
The team are confident that the quartet can make the jump to WorldTour and continue their development: Their development doesn’t stop here, it is still a very big step up into the WorldTour but we are confident that they are on a good trajectory and will continue to develop well within our organisation and with a race programme that will suit their capabilities.
"They’re all different riders with different strength and weaknesses but we are confident that they will fit in well into the group, they have learnt a lot and progressed well in the devo team and we are sure that they will add great value to the team during the next two years.”
Jayco AlUla call up four development riders
| Rider | Nation | Age |
| Ben Wiggins | United Kingdom | 21 |
| Adam Rafferty | Ireland | 20 |
| Wil Holmes | Australia | 20 |
| Jed Smithson | United Kingdom | 20 |
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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