Multiple Tour de France stage winners Dylan Groenewegen and Simon Yates will headline Team Jayco AlUla at the inaugural edition of the UCI AlUla Tour, the home race of the team’s second naming right sponsor.

The Saudi Arabian stage race returned to the international calendar in 2020 after an 18-year hiatus and this year, the five-day stage race starting on January 30th will be known as the AlUla Tour, and the peloton will race around the historic Arabic landscapes with fast, flat sprints and a hard climb to conclude the race on the final stage.

Team sprinter Groenewegen has delivered year after year at the event, racking up three stage wins and two points classification titles in the last two editions and comes to the race in top early season form after recently scoring a memorable 70th career win on Saturday at the Gran Premi Valencia, in what was his first race of the new 2024 season.

The team’s general classification hopeful Yates will make his debut in Saudi Arabia, flying direct from Australia, fresh off the back of a well fought out sixth place overall at the Santos Tour Down Under.

A strong and powerful support squad will aid the leading duo, with Groenewegen’s trusty wingmen, Elmar Reinders and Luka Mezgec both in action alongside the Dutchman. Chris Juul-Jensen and Jan Maas will provide the horsepower on the flat, desert roads while Lucas Hamilton will be a key team player for Yates when the race heads uphill as he is set to make his season debut.

Team Jayco AlUla:
Dylan Groenewegen (NED)
Lucas Hamilton (AUS)
Chris Juul-Jensen (DEN)
Jan Maas (NED)
Luka Mezgec (SLO)
Elmar Reinders (NED)
Simon Yates (GBR)

Dylan Groenewegen:
“I always look forward to returning to AlUla, it is a beautiful place and I have good memories of racing there over the last two years. I have three stage wins there and the plan of course is to add more victories this year and another points jersey would also be a nice reward.

These early season races are always important to work with my teammates and to build confidence for the rest of the year and starting with a win already in Valencia is great for morale. I will have Elmar and Luka again with me in AlUla and I have worked with them a lot in the last year, so I have a lot of trust in both of them for the sprints.”

Tristan Hoffman (Sport Director):
“We’re going to AlUla with a really strong team, we have Simon for the GC and it will be important for him not to lose time on the early stages. Stage five there is a serious climb, from the top of the climb there is still 7km to go but the goal will be for Simon to try and decide the GC there.

Then we also have Dylan for the sprints, stages one and three are quite flat and stage four there is also an opportunity for him, last year he was close there, so he has three opportunities.

The other guys will support Dylan and Simon, and we have seen in the past there could be some crosswinds so we will need to be focussed during the stages. We will also have to take some responsibility because we have a strong team, but we need to race smart and use our energy in the right way.”