Team Jayco AlUla is thrilled to confirm the news that young New Zealand talent Ella Wyllie who turned heads this season with standout performances, will make her professional WorldTour debut with the Australian outfit in 2024.
The 21-year-old rider from Auckland enjoyed her first taste of European racing in 2022 and continued to build momentum this year, thanks to support from her current team LifePlus Wahoo. Quickly finding her feet in the international peloton, Wyllie began to rack up impressive and consistent results in top level races, despite her young age and inexperience of racing overseas.
Team Jayco AlUla management and performance staff took note of the young Kiwi’s potential at the Santos Women’s Tour Down Under. During the event, she was seen fighting at the front amongst experienced WorldTour pros and claimed an inspiring eighth place overall.
Continuing with the passion of finding and developing upcoming talent, the team is very excited to have Wyllie onboard for the next two seasons. The team believes that, with the correct guidance and support, the youngster can flourish into a consistently high-achieving rider in the WorldTour peloton and eventually a team leader at Team Jayco AlUla.
Brent Copeland – Team Jayco AlUla General Manager said, ”We feel very proud to be able to bring Ella onto our team for the next two seasons. She has clearly demonstrated her talent and raw potential with a whole host of results in her first full season racing in Europe and this is thanks to the great support she received at team LifePlus Wahoo.
Our riders and staff know first-hand what it is like for young athletes to move overseas from Australia and New Zealand and set up a new life in Europe and we are confident that we have the resources and support needed to help individuals such as Ella enjoy a long and successful career.
We believe as Ella takes the step up into the WorldTour peloton in 2024, she will continue her steep learning curve and our vision is to assist her on her journey, helping her to grow and develop into a leader at Team Jayco AlUla in the future.
For us as an organisation to have this opportunity to work with such a capable and gifted young rider, it is very motivating, and we are looking forward to 2024 with our enhanced women’s WorldTour team set up and our new development team.”
Ella Wyllie added, ”It’s always my goal to strive for my best and see how far I can go, so I believe the next step in my development as a rider is with Team Jayco AIUla. The foundations of the team are strong with good staff, riders and competitive equipment. It will be exciting to see what we can achieve together in 2024/2025.
At the end of 2022 I decided to give the European racing scene a shot and it’s been great so far. Someone who inspired me to do so was Georgia Williams. She used to ride for GreenEDGE Cycling and seeing her success in Europe was really inspiring, especially because of how tough it is to make it from New Zealand.
Next year, I will still be under 23, so I have opportunities to go for young rider jerseys in races, but I also have really strong teammates who I want to learn from and help achieve great team results.
I enjoyed my race calendar this season with LifePlus Wahoo but I’m always up for a new challenge, as long as there’s a few climbs I’ll be happy! For the future, Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is such a special race, so to win the yellow jersey would be the dream.”
Ella Wyllie stats:
Date of birth: 1st September 2002 (21)
Nationality: New Zealand
Joins GreenEDGE Cycling: 2024 & 2025
Top Results:
2nd GC – Watersley Women’s Challenge (2022)
2nd Young Rider Classification – Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (2023)
3rd Navarra Women’s Elite Classic (2023)
4th Oceania Road Race Championships (2022)
8th GC – Santos Women’s Tour Down Under (2023)
