"It's good for Simon and for us that he's changed teams" - Jayco AlUla manager confident Ben O'Connor will fully replace Simon Yates
Cycling
Team Jayco AlUla made some big moves at the transfer market this winter, aiming to shine in their brand new purple outfits. One of the headline changes was the swap of leaders with Ben O'Connor coming to replace the departing Simon Yates. In general, the Australian WT formation made several strong signings and so the goals are naturally to do even better than in 2024.
"All good things must come to an end," says sporting director Matt White when asked in conversation with In de Leiderstrui. "It's been a long time with him, without a doubt. He was there from the start of this team, but it's good for Simon and for us that he's changed teams."
That's rather surprising statement. White goes on to explain: "After 11 years he was maybe a bit stagnant, so this is a good change for him. If he had stayed we would have been happy to continue with him, but very few riders stay with the same team their entire career."
"Ben is a different type of rider, there were a number of reasons why we were interested in him," said White. "His style of racing is very attractive to us and a lot of other teams and he had a great year in 2024, from February to September. He was very consistent, whereas in previous years we had only seen flashes of that. Last year was a near perfect season for him, it couldn't have been much better."
"And of course it's great for us that he's going to be our first Australian leader in an Australian team. We've always had a lot of international leaders, so this will excite the fans," he continued. "Ben was very excited to come here. He knew a different route to the top and was looking for a new challenge."
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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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Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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