Ben O’Connor will target a strong general classification performance at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana as races in Team Jayco AlUla colours for the first time.
In addition to O’Connor, Jasha Sütterlin, Bob Donaldson and Jelte Krijnsen will also debut in the purple of the Aussie squad at the five-day race. With some opportunities for a sprint, the team will look to Krijnsen if it comes down to a bunch finish.
Italian Filippo Zana will provide some key support for O’Connor in the mountains. Meanwhile experienced talents Michael Hepburn and Chris Juul-Jensen add to the engine room of the squad that will help maintain control on the flat and rolling parts of the route.
The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2025 – which starts on 5th February and consists of five stages over a total of 665 km – opens with a TTT of 35km that will give an initial GC definition – followed by three demanding stages with 3,000m climbing, before the final sprint in Valencia.
Team Jayco AlUla
Bob Donaldson (GBR)
Michael Hepburn (AUS)
Chris Juul-Jensen (DEN)
Jelte Krijnsen (NED)
Ben O’Connor (AUS)
Jasha Sütterlin (GER)
Filippo Zana (ITA)
Ben O’Connor:
“It will be my first time at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana but above all it’s my first race with my new team. Since I started my professional career, I always knew that, sooner or later, I would be part of the GreenEDGE family. For us Australian riders, Team Jayco AlUla remains the reference team, and I am very proud to be here. My goal is to give my best and get the first big result of the season. We have a very competitive team, which can do well at the TTT and then it will be up to me to be strong on the many climbs of the Spanish race.”
David McPartland (Sport Director):
“It’s early season of course but we still have ambitions here. It’s the first race for Ben O’Connor with the team and his preparation has so far gone all to plan. We will aim to do a good race with him in the GC. First, we have the super important TTT on stage one. This will set the scene for the following stages and how a big part of the rest of the race unfolds.
The week overall is solid one with three of the five stages comprising more than 3,000m of climbing. There is also the last stage and potentially one of the lighter mountain stages where we may see a reduced bunch sprint and for that we have another new member in Jelte Krijnsen for a result.”
