Chris Harper wants to see how far he can go: "Let's see if I am capable of being a contender in those week-long stage races"

Chris Harper is highly regarded as a loyal teammate, whose domain are high mountains. Last year, Harper was given more of a free role, and the Australian already managed to finish 16th overall himself while his leader Simon Yates occupied 4th. Seeing that he can race against the best riders in the world, the Jayco-AlUla rider would now like to try racing for his own result on few occasions in 2024.

"My big focus for the year will probably be supporting Simon at the Tour again, which is something I really enjoy doing and am looking forward to," Harper told Cyclingnews. "But also in the lead up to the Tour there are probably opportunities to test myself, see how I can do."

"I think I saw through the year that it was something important, especially for myself, if there is opportunity throughout the year to see how I can go in some of the stage races," said Harper. "Normally there is a time trial or a team trial in there somewhere so I think I’d like to make it a strength rather than a weakness."

"I definitely would like to progress and see if I am capable of being a contender in those week-long stage races, something like Paris-Nice and Catalunya – whether I can be competitive or pushing to be on the podium in those races," said Harper.