33-year-old Canadian, Alison Jackson has been announced as the latest arrival at EF Education-TIBCO-SVB. It marks something of a homecoming for Jackson who previously raced for the team under it's former guise Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank in 2018 and 2019, before EF Education joined the side as co-sponsor at the start of this year.
In an interview on the teams official website, Alison Jackson was full of delight, “I have a lot of good memories from being on the program. Linda Jackson is such a legend. She has such a passion for the women in the sport. I’ve just been watching the team develop and grow. I think for sure it’s a new team now that it’s gone WorldTour. I’m just excited to invest in it and have the team invest in me.”
The woman who Alison Jackson heaped praise on there, Linda Jackson returned the love. Saying the following when asked about the signing of the Canadian, “We’ve both grown a lot in the last few years and I believe we both have a lot to give to each other. ‘AJ’ is incredibly strong and reads races well, especially the classics. She has been able to get herself to where she needs to be at the right time"
A winner last year in the Canadian National Championship in both the road race and the time trial, Alison also took home the points jersey at the Ladies Tour of Norway in 2021 and finished 6th in last years World Championship road race.
When discussing her goals for the next season “I’m a classics rider,” Jackson definitively answered. She went on to add, “Any of the spring classics are on the top of my goal list. I love being deep in the mix. There’s deep history in those races — they’re hard races. The one-day race where it just becomes this epic story from the start to the finish, whether there’s bad weather or obstacles, and you have to be smart with how you play your cards."