"Partners want to see at the podium": New Jayco director balances on the complex task of keeping the team running

Jayco AlUla had a dizzy period in recent months with complicated financial situation almost pushing the Australian team over the edge. At one point, riders were even allowed by UCI to leave the team, but ultimately everything came together successfully for both the men's and women's teams to continue through 2026.

"We were able to find a solution and able to get things over the line, it's all sorted out now, so we look forward to the future," team manager Brent Copeland told Cyclingnews.

Looking back, the 2025 season was far from perfect for Jayco AlUla as the Australian team had to realistically watch their back as the battle for promotion was breathing down their necks. Ultimately, Jayco finished 16th at the three-year ranking with some notable successes, having overcome multiple obstacles along the way.

"We won the Queen stage at the Giro to Sestrière with Chris Harper and the Queen stage at the Tour with Ben O'Connor, we were also one of only five teams to win a WorldTour stage race with Paul Double, but we finished 16th in the UCI team ranking that decides the next WorldTour licences," Copeland evaluates.

In the 2026-2028 period, Copeland hopes to evade such nerve-racking final months. In order to achieve that, some tactical changes will need to be implemented. One of the decisions that should bring Jayco more success on the UCI ranking is lining up to 2026 without a pure sprinter star in their ranks. Instead, the objective will be on stage-hunting, one-day races and GC in smaller races.

Ideally to get as close as possible to renesance XDS Astana went through in 2025, although the approach will be different. "I'm not saying we're going to race like XDS Astana did this year, but we're going to strategically look at the races where we can pick up points," Copeland says, pointing out that in the era of superteams like UAE Team Emirates - XRG, it's hard to be consistently on the winning side.

"Teams are desperate to hit the ground running in 2026, to make sure they're sitting in a safe spot for the three-year sporting criteria and so the next WorldTour spots. When Tadej Pogačar and UAE win so many races, you have to adapt your strategy, that's only logical."

The exact race and points strategy will be a responsibility of a newcomer Gene Bates. Strictly speaking, it's unfair to call Bates a newcomer as he's had worked in the Australian strcuture for over a decade with breaks. Most recently, the 41-year-old has been in charge of the women's team but in 2026, he should be in charge of tactical aspect of men's team.

One of his tasks will be balancing out visibility at the grand stage and point-farming in smaller competitions. "We have important partners that want to see our jersey on the podium, but at the same time, we need to be taking care of business in the background around the points," Bates also told Cyclingnews.

"Ben O'Connor is capable of a top-five in a Grand Tour, and that's an important goal for us, so we need to support him to get to that result. At the same time, guys like Michael Matthews, Mauro Schmid and others are great at one-day Classics and races, so they can win but also score a lot of points during the season."

"The role of the performance team is to dissect the season and try to get down to that granular level of detail around what we are trying to achieve at different races and different moments of the season. We will target more one-day races, where there are more points on offer, and have different goals for smaller stage races."