Australia’s Team Jayco AlUla has confirmed its roster for the 2027 WorldTour season, while also revealing veteran Luke Durbidge will race for the final time in team colours at the Road National Championships in Perth on January 10.
The 35-year-old is the last remaining rider from the original GreenEDGE squad that entered the UCI WorldTour way back in 2012.
A two-time road and four-time time trial National Champion, Durbridge will defend his 2025 National title in the final road race of his elite career on home roads on the Kings Park circuit in Perth.
With fellow team veteran Luka Mezgec also retiring at the end of the 2026 season, the team’s leadership mantle will fall heavily on the shoulders of Michael Matthews (36), Pascal Ackermann (32), Chris Juul-Jensen (37), Luke Plapp (25) and Sam Welsford (30) who joins after a single season with Netcomany INEOS.
The team will have high hopes that Welsford can get the 2027 season off to flying start at the Santos Tour Down Under, where the sprinter has won a remarkable seven stages over the last three years.
Elsewhere, the seemingly ageless Michael Matthews will be competing in his 17th WorldTour season and, spurred on by his outstanding silver medal at the 2026 World Championships in Montreal, will again target major one-day races and stage wins headlined by Milan-San Remo.
Luke Plapp is expected to target time trials and shorter stage races following solid GC results in 2026 that included third at the UAE Tour and fifth at the Tour de Romandie.
Amongst nine new riders joining for next season, five are aged 21 or under in what will be the youngest roster for the Australian squad in more than a decade. Ben Wiggins, Jed Smithson, Wil Holmes and Adam Rafferty all step up from the Hagens Berman Jayco development squad while rising French 21-year-old Ugo Fabries will be another name to watch after finishing 6th in this year’s Tour de l’Avenir.
Gene Bates, Head of Performance for Team Jayco AlUla, described the team’s 2027 roster as ‘exciting and refreshed’.
“Although we will lose some experience and leadership with guys like Luke Durbridge and Luka Mezgec retiring, I am sure others will step up, and we will see some fresh new faces making their mark on the season,” he said.
“Having Welsford joining the team will add another element of excitement and create some new goals for the squad in 2027. It will also be great to see what riders like Michael Matthews, Andrea Vendrame, Amaury Capiot and Mikkel Honoré can do, being back to full health, with a new season and unfulfilled goals to chase.”
The full squad for 2027 includes 8 Australian riders with 5 riders from both Great Britain and Italy.
2027 Team Jayco AlUla roster
- Pascal Ackermann (GER)
- Oliver Bleddyn (AUS)*
- Amaury Capiot (BEL)
- Filippo Conca (ITA)
- Alessandro Covi (ITA)
- Dries De Bondt (BEL)
- Dries De Pooter (BEL)
- Davide De Pretto (ITA)
- Bob Donaldson (GBR)
- Paul Double (GBR)
- Luke Durbridge (AUS)
- Felix Engelhardt (GER)
- Ugo Fabries (FRA)*
- Alessandro Fancellu (ITA)*
- Anders Foldager (DEN)
- Patrick Gamper (AUT)
- Alan Hatherly (RSA)
- Wil Holmes (AUS)*
- Mikkel Honoré (DEN)*
- Chris Juul-Jensen (DEN)
- Michael Matthews (AUS)
- Hamish McKenzie (AUS)
- Kell O’Brien (AUS)
- Finlay Pickering (GBR)
- Luke Plapp (AUS)
- Adam Rafferty (IRL)*
- Jed Smithson (GBR)*
- Andrea Vendrame (ITA)
- Sam Welsford (AUS)*
- Ben Wiggins (GBR)*
* New rider for 2027
Peter Maniaty
Peter Maniaty - Peter is Bicycling Australia’s senior journalist, and highly respected in the world of cycling. From bike reviews, to destination features and nitty gritty opinion pieces, he’s a gun writer.
