"It made no sense to invest in...": Jayco AlUla manager explains that letting Dylan Groenewegen go was an easy choice
Cycling
Dylan Groenewegen spent four seasons at Jayco AlUla, leading the Australian team to 21 professional victories, including two at the Tour de France. Scoring around 4,600 UCI points in that period, Groenewegen was an important contributor to Jayco AlUla's total amount as the team was far from safe, finishing 16th overall at the three-year UCI ranking period.
Still, there was no room for the 31-year-old Dutchman in Australian team for 2026 and beyond as Groenewegen briefly describes the situation as a "change of priorities."
Manager Brent Copeland explained the decision to not renew Groenewegen in Daniel Benson's Substack. "It made no sense to invest one to one and a half million euros in sprinters who didn't guarantee us points," he explains. While Groenewegen brought in over 1,400 points in 2024, he contributed by less than a half of that amount in 2025.
The combined three stage victories at Tour de Hongrie and Tour of Slovenia could not make up for a season that has been disappointing in the eyes of the Jayco AlUla's team manager. Additionally, Groenewegen finished runner-up a total of seven times this year, sometimes simply being unlucky.
Instead of bringing in another expensive sprinter star, Jayco AlUla will shift its focus for the upcoming period. Many transfers are yet to be unveiled, but from what we can see so far, the strategy slightly resembles that of XDS Astana before this season, a strategy that was very successful for the Kazakh team.
Among the incoming riders are; fast all-rounder Andrea Vendrame, versatile sprinter Amaury Capiot, Classics rider Dries De Bondt, or another fast Italian Alessandro Covi. All four riders with potential to score 500+ points on the right schedule. And the four of them combined probably won't cost Copeland's team more than Groenewegen alone.
"We've decided not to invest in sprinters next year," Copeland stresses the shift in focus. Previously, we have seen the likes of Caleb Ewan and Kaden Groves light up the bunch arrivals for the Australian team. "That will save us about two to three million euros. We'd rather focus on riders who score points in races that are important to us. That investment will be worth it."
Groenewegen however didn't have a problem finding a new home. He signed a two-year contract with Unibet Rose Rockets, the ambitious project of former cyclist and YouTuber Bas Tietema. The team aims to advance towards the upper echelon of ProTeam category where currently resides Cofidis, Tudor Pro Cycling and Q36.5 Pro Cycling. The recruitments of renowned riders such as Dylan Groenewegen and Wout Poels should help at this mission.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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