The incredible story of the cyclist who has gone from rags to riches by jumping to the WorldTour at 28 years of age: "I still feel very young"

Almost a decade fighting for his dream, but Paul Double has made it. The British cyclist has reached the WorldTour at the age of 28. After several stints with several ProTeam teams (most recently Alberto Contador's Polti Kometa), Double has signed this winter with WorldTour Jayco-AlUla. With a 2-year contract, the Australian team rider tells his incredible story.

"It's a little surreal," Paul Double begins by telling Rouleur, talking about how he started riding at 17, spent time cutting down trees, working in restoration, and finally, after a long time of saving and buying used clothes, has turned pro.

"To be honest, at university I was a bit of a slacker: I rode a bit of a bike with my friends, but I didn't really know what I was doing, I didn't have a direction. My father was a butler in London, so I was always interested in the service sector, and I thought about going into wine or coffee, but I also knew from my father how hard it was," adds the Brit.

There are very few cases in which a rider makes it to the WorldTour at almost 30 years of age. Despite this, Paul Double doesn't feel threatened: "I still feel very young, maybe because I look young too. And I'll always feel like an amateur, to be honest. The guys at Polti used to make fun of me, saying I did things that were a bit weird, like walking down from the hotel room to the bus in my cycling shoes. Apparently, you don't do that."

At Jayco AlUla he doesn't want to go unnoticed. The Brit will be looking to stand out from the first moment he gets on the bike: "I know my role is going to change and it will be a matter of learning to do the job of a teammate, something I've never done because I've always been a leader, but when I get the chance I want to get results like I have so far. Now everything is closer, it's super exciting."