Hatherly to Jayco-AlUla - a boost for a sport on its knees in South Africa
XCO World Champion joins the WorldTour as road cycling in South Africa struggles to stay afloat
South African Mountain Bike XCO world champion Alan Hatherly has made a surprise move on to slick tyres and the WorldTour, signing with Jayco-AlUla for 2025.
The transfer is a major boost for cycling in South Africa which has been in difficulty for several years. Earlier in the year, Lidl-Trek rider Ryan Gibbons told Global Peloton that he is "worried about the future of South African cycling" due to a lack of investment and opportunity.
28-year-old Hatherly has joined the Australian team on a two year deal after a year where he became the first African ever to win the world XCO title and claimed an historic bronze medal in the Olympic Games.
Although the move came somewhat out of the blue, it's not the first time that Hatherly has been linked with a WorldTour squad. In 2023 he road for the EF-Nippo Development squad, but only competed in the national championships and early season races in Croatia as preparation for his season on the mountain bike.
“I am incredibly excited for this new chapter in my cycling career and very grateful for the opportunity to ride for GreenEDGE Cycling for the next two seasons," Hatherly said in a team press release.
"I think now is the perfect moment for me to get out of my comfort zone and develop even further. Moving to a WorldTour road team is of course something totally new for me, it will be a steep learning curve, and I will be learning from the best," he added.
The team clearly believe in Hatherly's talent, giving him a WorldTour contract straight up. It will be interesting to see where his strengths lie on the road. Watching the XCO, Hatherly often looks physically bigger than his competitors, suggesting he may be a rider who could contend for the Classics in the future. Hatherly will race a combined road and MTB programme in 2025.
"Of course, Hatherly is the current MTB world champion and will continue to have a focus in this field, thanks to the support from Giant," said team manager Brent Copeland, also a South African.
"We hope together we can achieve great things in MTB and on the road, he will certainly have a lot of experienced teammates and staff to learn from.”
"We are thrilled to be able to work with such a talented rider and believe that our strong support network within the WorldTeam set-up is something that Hatherly will greatly benefit from. He has a lot of talent and clearly a lot of potential and we believe he can go far on the road," Copeland concluded.
A boost for South Africa
The move turns a corner in the trajectory of South African cycling. Before the start of his second Tour de France in the summer, Lidl-Trek rider Ryan Gibbons told Global Peloton about his fears for the health of the sport on the road in a country that has led the pack in Africa for many years.
“I'm worried about the state of South African cycling and I do worry that once I retire, once Louis [Meintjes] retires, once Stefan De Bod retires, I think there's going to be a big period where we don't see a South African jersey or a South African flag next to a name on the start list of a race,” Gibbons said.
“I do believe that, in five, ten years time, there's going to be two, one, or maybe even zero South Africans in the WorldTour. So I'm worried. Something needs to be done. I don't know what it is.”
'I'm worried, something needs to be done' - Ryan Gibbons on the state of South African road cycling
Over the past couple of decades, South Africa has been a constant presence in the WorldTour, producing top tier talent including the likes of Daryl Impey, Ashleigh Moolman Pasio and their current national champion, Lidl-Trek’s Ryan Gibbons.
In an in depth interview, Gibbons told us about the lack of racing opportunities in the country, a lack of investment in cycling and a lack of understanding of the sport. The problems run deep in the leadership of cycling in the country and riders who do have ambition to make it in the sport are forced to do it with minimal support, if any at all. Even riders racing for the national team at international events must do so by dipping into their own pockets.
There have been several young South Africans who have made the trip to Europe in recent years, but none have managed to break through into the professional ranks. Hatherly will be South Africa’s first neo-pro since Stefan de Bod signed for Team Dimension Data in 2019.
Travis Stedman has been the nation’s most promising young rider in recent seasons, but he will return home to South Africa in 2025 after the Q36.5 Continental squad folded.
“There's a lot of political issues and things that sometimes are out of your control. It's definitely a problem and I'm sad to say that it's not looking good in the near future for South African cycling,” Gibbons added.
Hatherly's transfer doesn't provide a solution to the woes, but does bring solace to a frustrated road cycling community in South Africa.
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