Team Jayco AlUla heads to the 2026 Tour de France prepared to do battle on all fronts. The Australian squad arrives at the Grand Départ in Barcelona with a roster built to attack, seek breakaways, and create opportunities across all 21 stages of the three-week stage race.
The eight-rider roster is built around proven stage winners and hungry young riders making their Tour de France debuts. Australian riders Michael Matthews and Ben O’Connor have six Tour de France stage victories between them, and both will be looking to add to their win tallies.
Australian Core
O'Connor triumphed on the queen stage of last year’s Tour de France and has proven his pedigree in the biggest race on the calendar with two career stage wins and a top-five general classification finish at the 2021 Tour.
Matthews, meanwhile, returns from injury with renewed hunger, making his comeback after breaking both wrists in a training crash earlier this year. "If you had told me three months ago that I'd be at the start of the Tour de France, I don't think I would have believed you," Matthews said. “I’ve worked really hard to get back together with the team in time for the Tour and I’m really looking forward to being back.”
This will be Matthews’s ninth Tour de France. He has four stage wins to his name and in 2017 he won the overall points classification.
Rounding out the Australian core, Luke Plapp enters his second Tour looking to build on a 2025 Giro d'Italia stage win.
On the Attack
The ever-aggressive Mauro Schmid has been the team's most successful rider in 2026, with four wins and a string of top 10 results including second at the Fleche Wallonne spring classic race and at the Tour Down Under stage race. The multi-time Swiss national road racing champion is looking to continue his winning season and grab the elusive Tour stage victory he narrowly missed on Stage 11 last year.
Youth and Experience
Australian road captain Luke Durbridge will line up for his 12th Tour de France. The 35-year-old brings valuable experience and horsepower to the team as he helps guide them through the 21 stages including the important team time trial on day one. Fellow veteran Pascal Ackermann, who has five grand tour stage victories to his name, will lead the team in the bunch sprints.
Alongside the experienced riders, German Felix Engelhardt and Australian Kelland O’Brien will be making their Tour de France debuts. Engelhardt is riding a wave of momentum after winning the German national road championship last weekend. The 25-year-old showed impressive grit when he chased back onto a five-rider breakaway inside of 3km to go and then outsprinted Lennart Jasch and Nico Denz to take the victory.
Team Jayco AlUla sports director Mat Hayman said the team has all the tools to compete across the entire three-week race. “We have a very strong, well-rounded team for this year’s Tour de France,” Hayman said. “There’s a strong Australian theme with Ben returning off a stage win last year. Michael Matthews has fought back from injury, which has been really impressive. Then we have Plapp, who’s won a stage in the Giro and would love to add one in the Tour de France. We have Pascal there for the sprints and then a lot of rouleurs looking for stage opportunities, whether that’s in the medium or high mountains.”
The 113th Tour de France starts with a team time trial in Barcelona on July 4, finishing on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on July 26. Throughout the Tour, riders will primarily be on their Propel Advanced SL road bikes and the Trinity Advanced SL for TT stages including the Stage 1 TTT. They will be rolling on CADEX WheelSystems and cockpit components and wearing Giant helmets including the new Rev Pro Mips and Pursuit Mips and Giant sunglasses including the Aurea.
You can follow the team throughout the race on the Team Jayco AlUla or Giant Instagram accounts.
Team Jayco AlUla Tour de France roster
Pascal Ackermann (Germany)
Luke Durbridge (Australia)
Felix Engelhardt (Germany)
Michael Matthews (Australia)
Kelland O'Brien (Australia)
Ben O'Connor (Australia)
Luke Plapp (Australia)
Mauro Schmid (Switzerland)