He has done more for cycling than any other individual or organisation, his name is synonymous with the sport, and we are thrilled to feature an interview with him.



Gerry Ryan has been and continues to be the greatest sponsor of Australian professional road and track cycling in the modern era, yet, by his own admission, he is not a keen rider.
His first exposure to competitive cycling was during his childhood in Bendigo, Victoria, where he grew up as one of nine children. Bendigo was and still is a big track cycling town, and in his formative years, he enjoyed watching his mates race their bikes on the road and local track but was never tempted to join them. He even watched as the Sun Tour, which he would go on to sponsor, whizzed through town.
“Like most kids, I pedalled a bike around, but let’s just say I have lots of ambition but no ability, so I never competed,” Ryan told us.
It wasn’t until the 1990s when he was approached by cyclist Kathy Watt that he got his first real taste of the magic of road cycling. Watt was preparing for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where she was contesting the road race, and asked Ryan to sponsor her for $10,000 to undertake altitude training in the Rocky Mountains. She went on to win the Gold Medal in the road race, which she partly attributed to her time at altitude.
“It was a great return for my $10,000 and gave me a taste for supporting cycling,” he said.
That early foray gave Ryan his start in supporting the niche sport, and he soon took his next step, setting up the Jayco Cycling Team. “The team rode in Australia and then headed to the US and Canada in June and July. From there, I also supported the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) and VIS (Victorian Institute of Sport) for many years, plus the Herald Sun Tour.
“My philosophy has always been to make a difference in people’s lives,” he said. “I enjoy developing young talent, whether it be in sport or business. I was helped at the beginning of my career by people who saw my potential and I like to do the same,” added Ryan.
Earlier Days
Ryan had early success in his business life. He left school in Year 11 and studied accountancy part-time while working on the production line at Sunwagon Camper Trailers.
“I was planning to head to WA to join my brother, who told me money could be made during the mining boom,” he said. “Instead I stuck with manufacturing. After six weeks on the production line, I was promoted to foreman, and in five months was the production manager with 100 staff reporting to me.
“While with Sunwagon, I was lucky enough to travel to the US to learn about production methods under the tutelage of Jayco US. I came back from that trip with my head full of ideas but soon realised I’d need to strike out on my own, so in 1974 I built my first prototype and in January 1975 the first caravan rolled off the production line. Jayco US graciously agreed that I could use the name in Australia, and Jayco was born,” said Ryan.
In addition to his business success with Jayco, Ryan has a string of others, including wineries, a caravan park, and a recreation centre, as well as his global entertainment company, Global Creatures. He reportedly invested $150,000 in seed funding in 2004 in the business, which has since generated hundreds of millions of dollars from stage shows such as Walking With Dinosaurs and How to Train Your Dragon.
Ryan’s wide array of business interests and philanthropic efforts allow him to observe professional cycling from a distance, recognising it as a source of entertainment for many people. “Cycling is in the entertainment industry, and with so much competition, it needs to keep the fans engaged or the sport will go backward.”
30 Years In Cycling
His business successes have also allowed him to fund Australian cycling events and teams for the past 30 years.
One aspect of cycling that Ryan has always focused on is women’s cycling.
“I learnt from a very young age that women can do anything as well as, or even better than, a man,” he said. “My mother, Alice, was a major influence on me. My dad had a bad car accident when I was a kid, and Mum went back out to work while caring for seven children (the two eldest had left home). It was an important early lesson in life.
“When we set up the GreenEDGE team, it was non-negotiable that we also had a women’s team. From day one, the women’s team had access to the same equipment, team support, and training programs that the men’s team enjoyed,” said Ryan.
GreenEDGE’s commitment to women’s professional cycling has been further strengthened this year with the new Australian women’s team, Liv AlUla Jayco, established after the merger of Liv Racing TeqFind and GreenEDGE Cycling. The Continental Team operates close to the WorldTeam and offers the riders personal coaching and access to facilities also available to the WorldTeam. The goal is to lay a solid foundation for talent development, which benefits individual riders, the team, and the future of women’s cycling.
Ryan’s journey with GreenEDGE began in 2010 while watching the teams roll around the course at the Tour de France in Paris and lamenting the lack of an Australian team. Being a man of action, he contacted Shayne Bannan, who was a Director at Cycling Australia at the time, and asked how much it would cost to start an Australian team. It took them about 18 months to get it off the ground.
Since the team first joined the professional peloton in 2012, Ryan has enjoyed some fantastic highs and lows and has always enjoyed getting close to the action.
First Yellow Jersey
When asked about highlights so far, he quickly points to the 2013 Tour de France when the Orica GreenEDGE team won the Team Time Trial in Nice, giving Simon Gerrans the yellow jersey.
“Every rider won a stage that day, and Simon Gerrans wore yellow, which he handed to Daryl Impey a few days later,” he told us. “That was pretty special and typifies the culture of the organisation. It doesn’t matter if it’s business or sport. You need the right culture. You need to set an example for younger people, whether you’re hiring employees or cyclists. I always look at the character first and the ability second – you can develop ability if the character is there,” said Ryan.
In the 12 years that Ryan has been involved in the professional peloton, many changes have occurred.
“The game has changed,” he said. “There is a lot more money involved now with more teams. The riders are more professional with the involvement of sports science, a focus on nutrition and recovery, and much more individual coaching.
“There is also more focus on investment in equipment. Through our partnership with Giant and others, we benefit from their continual product development, and they continually work with the team for intel to improve the product.
“The higher budgets and salaries of the larger teams means the riders are more disciplined, so the teams are creating more professional environments. The women’s peloton, in particular, is more professional because they’ve been given more financial support. In our team and many others they have the same equipment and access to the same support services and training programs.
“With the larger budgets also comes some issues like the dominance of the bigger teams. Some of the teams are very wealthy, and there’s an imbalance in income and costs. You don’t want a situation where the top four teams are controlling cycling, so perhaps salary caps might need to be introduced,” said Ryan.
Cycling is not Ryan’s only sporting endeavour. He has won two Melbourne Cups, with his part ownership of two successful race horses – Americain and Rekindling.
Ryan has sponsored the Jayco Dandenong Rangers in the Women’s National Basketball League for years and the national women’s team, the Opals. He also owns a stake in NRL club Melbourne Storm and is a club director.
As well as the European cycling scene, Ryan supports domestic racing and recently agreed to sponsor the new Pro Velo Super League that will replace the Australian National Race Series (NRS) from 2025.
“Matt Wilson came to me and asked me to back it,” he said. “Strong domestic competition is important in preparation for riders who want to race in Europe, so we must have local competition to provide a pathway. I’ve signed up as an investor and advisor,” said Ryan.
While Gerry Ryan likes to maintain a low profile, including rarely participating in media interviews, he was pleased to receive recognition for his many years of support of Australian cycling in 2018 when the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race introduced an award for the best young male and female rider, named the Gerry Ryan Award.
When introducing the Award, Cadel Evans said it recognises the tremendous contribution the Melbourne businessman has made to cycling.
“Gerry’s commitment to the sport over the past two and half decades is outstanding. He has provided opportunities to ensure cycling in Australia remains at the forefront,” said Evans.
Ryan said at the time ‘I’ve been fortunate in business life to be successful. So, I’ve got the opportunity to help young people realise their dreams, and that’s what it’s about.’
Ryan famously fulfilled his promise to Cadel Evans by presenting him with a yellow Cadillac after Evans won the 2011 Tour de France, a pledge Evans had previously forgotten about. After the launch of the Award in 2018, the pair took the opportunity to check out the course along the spectacular Great Ocean Road in the yellow 1958 Cadillac Coupe.
Despite his love of cycling and the immense satisfaction he clearly receives from his involvement, he says his number one priority and joy in life is spending time with his five grandchildren.
“When I’m on my family farm at Nagambie, being Poppy G is when I’m most happy and satisfied. Sometimes, I get to combine this with my love of cycling, like when I took them all to the Tour de France last year, but watching them develop is my greatest satisfaction.
“The only reason I had children was to have grandchildren. I love taking them to my chocolate factory, where they make their own Easter eggs, or my dinosaur factory, to see how they are manufactured for my theatrical business. I love learning about what makes them tick. I’m taking them all to Lapland for Christmas to see Santa this year,” he said.
Ryan, who is now in his seventies, reflects on his involvement in Australian cycling.
“Cycling has taken more of my time and money than any other sporting endeavours,” he said. “I often pinch myself because I can’t believe a little boy from Bendigo with not much ability could achieve so much. I must have had some intuition and I’m so lucky for how good the journey has been.
“But it’s not just me. I have been blessed to have great people around me – family, employees, mates, and riders,” he concluded.