The Team Jayco AlUla will line up at the start of the 2026 Giro d'Italia with a complete and highly competitive squad, with general classification ambitions led by Australian climber Ben O'Connor.

O'Connor returns to Italian roads to try to improve on the result he achieved in his last Giro participation two years ago, where he finished fourth in the general classification. The thirty-year-old, winner of a stage at the Giro, aims to tackle some of the most challenging stages of this edition.

The three-week stage race will start on May 8th with three stages in Bulgaria, a mix of fast and hilly days, before an early rest day ahead of the transfer to Italy for the fourth stage. The Blockhaus stage, scheduled for the seventh week, will represent the first major test for riders battling for the general classification, followed by a time trial in the second week, but the most demanding challenges await riders in the final week of racing.

Team Jayco AlUla for the 2026 Giro d'Italia:
Pascal Ackermann (GER)
Koen Bouwman (NED)
Bob Donaldson (GBR)
Felix Engelhardt (GER)
Alan Hatherly (RSA)
Chris Juul-Jensen (DEN)
Ben O'Connor (AUS)
Andrea Vendrame (ITA)

Youth and Experience
O'Connor will be supported by a squad that combines youth and experience with Danish Chris Juul-Jensen, road captain, while sprinter Pascal Ackermann will seek to claim a stage. The German has already won three stages of the Giro d'Italia throughout his long career. The Team Jayco AlUla lineup also includes the Italian all-rounder Andrea Vendrame, who boasts two Giro d'Italia stage wins and an excellent sixth place at this year's Milano-Sanremo, and who will race alongside the refined German Felix Engelhardt and Dutch climber Koen Bouwman.

Making their Grand Tour debut will be two-time cross-country mountain bike world champion Alan Hatherly, a standout performer this season with a solid showing at Tirreno-Adriatico, and young British talent Bob Donaldson. The twenty-four-year-old impressed in the spring classics with a well-deserved fifth place in the grueling In Flanders Fields and will seek to test himself for the first time over three weeks.

here is the Team Jayco AlUla presentation video for the Giro d'Italia

Ben O'Connor: "This year will be my fifth Giro d'Italia and I must say I always return with great pleasure. The Giro is a race I'm very attached to, also because it was the first Grand Tour of my career and where I won my first Grand Tour stage in 2020. Furthermore, I love Italy very much; it's a country rich in colors with so much to see along the route from south to north. This year's route is very balanced, with some key stages in the Alps and the Blockhaus stage, which is crucial to focus on, and several tricky stages, such as those in the Marche and Liguria regions."

Steve Cummings - Sporting Director: "I'm very satisfied with the squad we'll have at the Giro d'Italia because it's complete and capable of fighting for victory in every stage. Ben will be our man for the general classification and all his preparation has been aimed at the three weeks of racing ahead of us. Along with him, riders like Andrea, Felix, Alan and Koen are really strong on fast terrain. Pascal will handle the sprints, supported in this by Bob's work, while Chris will be our race director. The 2026 route suits a balanced squad like ours very well and I imagine a general classification that will be quite competitive right through to the third week, when the Alps will decide the final winner."