This is a surprising announcement from Jayco AlUla.
The Australian team is signing Alan Hatherly up for two years. The South African, who had a great year in mountain biking this year, wants to expand his horizons and move to the road. The 28-year-old will thus follow illustrious names from the past, such as Cadel Evans. Not many names managed to have success on the road at a higher age after this transition.
2024 was a crazy year for Hatherly. He competed for a long time in the final Olympic mountain bike race, in which Tom Pidcock took the gold. Finally, he got his revenge at the
World Championships in Andorra, which he managed to win. In addition, Hatherly scored so well in the World Cup that he won the overall classification in that competition.
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Hatherley finished third behind Pidcock at the Games, grabbing bronze.
At Jayco AlUla, they are curious to see what Hatherley can do on the road.
The man in question is already excited about the move. "I am incredibly excited for this new chapter in my cycling career and very grateful for the opportunity to ride for GreenEDGE Cycling for the next two seasons. I think now is the perfect moment for me to get out of the comfort zone and develop even further. Moving to a WorldTour road team is, of course, something totally new for me; it will be a steep learning curve, and I will be learning from the best."
Director Brent Copeland reacted with joy to the mountain biker's arrival. "Alan has clearly had a breakthrough season in the MTB discipline, and it demonstrates that he has a lot more to give. We are thrilled to be able to work with such a talented rider and believe that our strong support network within the WorldTeam set up is something that Hatherly will greatly benefit from. He has a lot of talent and clearly a lot of potential, and we believe he can go far on the road."