“If a win comes in Italy that will be special” - British Grand Tour debutant looking to make his mark at the 2025 Giro d'Italia

For 28-year-old Brit Paul Double, the 2025 Giro d'Italia marks a real step up in his career as a professional bike rider as the Team Jayco AlUla talent makes a long-awaited Grand Tour debut. Having already added a win to his palmares this year, Double is keen to make his mark at the Giro.

“Being at the start of the Giro d’Italia is a milestone. An important part of a dream that began many years ago,” says the former Human Powered Health and Polti Kometa rider, who has enjoyed a strong start to life at Team Jayco AlUla this year, winning a stage of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali on Italian roads earlier in the season, in a press release from the Aussie-based team. “I started cycling seriously 10 years ago always hoping to become a good rider, there were difficult moments, but I never gave up.”

Having made a somewhat later start to serious cycling, it was a win in Wales back in 2016 that saw Double catch the eye of scouts in the peloton, with former professional Flavio Zappi suggesting the Brit move to Italy to race in his under 23 team. “I had finished college, and I had no clear ideas about my future. While waiting to figure it out, I did lots of small jobs to support myself, for example working as a waiter,” Double recalls. “I have lived in many places and sometimes I felt quite lonely, but I started to think that I really could become a professional rider and so I went ahead.” 

After two seasons for Zappi's Racing Team, spells at Team Colpack, Mg.K Vis VPM and the aforementioned Human Powered Health followed for Double, before he made a breakthrough switch to Alberto Contador's Polti Kometa in 2024. “Looking back,” Double explained. “I realised that it has been an interesting journey. The first few years, I had to make do. I had calculated that I could spend 50 euros a week on food and luckily the house and the trips were paid for by the team.“

And that journey has now led to a Grand Tour debut at the 2025 Giro d'Italia. “It will be a celebration. My father, my brothers and some friends will be there to share my moment. I think I will allow myself a toast with them,” he previews. “I have already started asking my teammates for some useful advice. I am sure of one thing: it will be a great trip, and I hope, I will have many stories to tell.”

And Double heads to Italy with real ambition too. “If a win comes in Italy that will be special,” concludes the Brit. “Take each race day as it comes and look for the best result.”