Triple Australian road race champion Luke Plapp and Swiss champion Mauro Schmid will lead a strong and well-rounded Team Jayco AlUla line-up at the 2025 Santos Tour Down Under, ready to kick-off the squad’s 14th professional season in the UCI WorldTour ranks on a high.
With a vibrant new look and new colours for 2025 through a partnership with Melbourne based cycling apparel brand, MAAP, Team Jayco AlUla are set to stand out from the crowd and are ready to make their mark at the ‘home race’ once again, having won the event overall five times.
Plapp, who was in stellar form at the 2024 event, having doubled up at the Australian championships the week prior, was unfortunately forced to abandon the race after stage three due to a high-speed crash.
Hoping for better luck in 2025, the rider from Melbourne will line-up alongside a squad built from mostly Australian riders that features two inaugural GreenEDGE Cycling members, Michael Hepburn and Luke Durbridge, local Adelaide hero Chris Harper and Olympic track champion Kelland O’Brien.
Coming in from across the water will be New Zealander Campbell Stewart and looking for a strong overall showing alongside Plapp will be Schmid.
Team Jayco AlUla at Santos Tour Down Under 2025:
Luke Durbridge (AUS)
Chris Harper (AUS)
Michael Hepburn (AUS)
Kelland O’Brien (AUS)
Luke Plapp (AUS)
Mauro Schmid (SWI)
Campbell Stewart (NZL)
Luke Plapp:
“Last year was a dream start to the season for me winning the national championships and then being able to wear the green and gold jersey at the Santos Tour Down Under in Adelaide, there’s no greater privilege for a rider. I’ll be hoping to defend my national road race title in Perth the week before, so that could be the perfect lead into the TDU.
Last TDU didn’t quite go to plan, after I had to abandon due to a nasty crash. We’ve got a great team and I’m ready for a much better race this time around.”
Mathew Hayman – Sport Director:
“Luke Plapp comes back after his crash in this year in January at TDU, and he’ll be leading the team. We also have Mauro Schmid coming out to Australia as well, he’s done well on the GC in the past. Campbell Stewart will be an option for the bunch sprints but it’s quite a demanding course this year.
We have the finish in Willunga that we know. We go down to Victor Harbour with a climb towards the finish. We’re out at Uraidla again which is a hard circuit, so I think with the level that the WorldTour is at in January, Tour down Under has met the level with a harder and harder course each year. We know it’s still very hard to make a difference in this race and we know the race is often won on bonus seconds or splits and moves so we will definitely be fighting for the overall with Luke Plapp and Mauro Schmid.”
Photo: Getty Images
