Ben O’Connor and Silke Smulders to lead Jayco AlUla as first Tour Down Under team line-ups revealed

Ben O’Connor and Silke Smulders will lead Jayco AlUla and Liv AlUla Jayco at the men’s and women’s Tour Down Under, as the Australian team became the first to confirm their line-ups for their home event.

Despite the racing in Adelaide not kicking off until January 17, with the start of the women’s race, Jayco have already confirmed their teams for what is one of the most important events for Australia’s only top-tier squads.

No other teams have officially unveiled their final line-ups, but we’re expecting to see the likes of Oscar Onley, Simon Clarke and Jay Vine in the men’s race, whilst the women’s race will feature world champion Magdeleine Vallieres, defending champion Noemi Rüegg, and a full complement of Women’s WorldTour teams for the first time ever.

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Ben O’Connor already confirmed to Cyclingnews earlier in the autumn that he would start his season with a return to the Australian National Championships in Perth, and he will extend his stay with a ride at the Tour Down Under. A Tour de France stage winner in 2025, O’Connor will lead the Jayco men’s team and aim for the overall win in Adelaide.

Five other Australians will join him in Luke Plapp, Luke Durbridge, Kell O’Brien, Rudy Porter and Hamish McKenzie, who recently stepped up from the team’s development squad. Completing the team will be Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid.

O’Connor, who joined Jayco AlUla in 2025, hasn’t raced an Australian summer since 2023, but is going back to his roots with his home squad.

“Heading back to Perth for the summer has been an enormous pleasure. I love Australia, I miss its beaches and friendly, laid-back atmosphere. Training here is brutal and unforgiving sometimes, but it always gives big rewards. I can’t wait to get stuck in for the Aussie summer of racing and do our jersey proud,” he said.

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“Around the world we try to perform, showcase our talents and aim to throw the hands up in the air with a victory, but coming into Tour Down Under with Team Jayco AlUla will truly mean racing in our home race, bringing that extra dimension of significance. It’ll be great fun and honestly, it is one of the best times of the year.”

The Liv AlUla Jayco line-up for the women’s Tour Down Under has a similarly Australian weighting, though it’s the Netherlands’ Silke Smulders who is touted for overall leadership, finishing second on GC at the race in 2025.

She will be flanked by Australians Ruby Roseman-Gannon, Amber Pate, Josie Talbot and neo-pro Mackenzie Coupland, making her WorldTour debut, plus New Zealand climber Ella Wyllie, who will also be aiming at a top-10 GC finish.

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“For me, Tour Down Under felt like a bit of a breakthrough and it gave me a big confidence boost to finish second and being so close to a GC victory,” Smulders said. “I remember it was also just such a special emotional feeling that the girls gave everything to support me and that gave me something extra for sure.

“This gives me a lot of motivation to try to do well again next year because I was so close. On the other hand, this year felt like a bit of a surprise and now I do feel more pressure to do well again for the team because it is our home race. But we have such a strong team of riders and many options to play and I am convinced that we will have this special feeling of going all in together because it is our race. That will give us that little extra.”

Other Tour Down Under news this week is that recently-retired Caleb Ewan, whose retirement coincided with a move back to Australia from Europe, will be a special guest at the race, meeting fans and appearing on the television broadcast.

The women’s Tour Down Under takes place January 17-19, and the men’s race January 20-25, plus the Tour Down Under Women’s One Day Race on January 21.

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