eam Jayco AlUla has rounded out a solid 2026 that was capped off by a brilliant Tour de France stage win and several of the team’s young stars taking breakthrough performances.
Successes elsewhere included Mauro Schmid’s dominant Coppi e Bartali overall win, Anders Foldager’s first WorldTour victory at Brabantse Pijl and Alessandro Covi’s sprint to the top spot at the Giro del Veneto. Meanwhile, Michael Matthews showed some incredible perseverance after he returned to high-level racing following a serious injury in the spring.
In total, the team secured 41 podium finishes, including some 10 victories, throughout 2026.
A winning beginning
Matthews got Team Jayco AlUla’s 2026 win tally up and running with an impressive uphill sprint at the Gran Premio de Castellón. It would ensure that 2026 was the 15th season of Matthews’ 16-year career where he added yet another victory to his palmarès – with 2021 the only season he has not claimed a win.
Unfortunately, Matthews’ spring campaign was prematurely ended when a horrific training crash saw him break both of his wrists, amongst a litany of other injuries, that could have ended his career. In the end, the Australian demonstrated his class and resilience to recover from the crash and was back to racing after just three months.
Plapp and Schmid: A winning combo
Having enjoyed his first trip to Australia with the team in 2025, Schmid got his season off to a strong start again at the Tour Down Under, taking a hard-earned second place overall as well as second in the queen stage to Willunga Hill.
There was plenty more to come and the team stopped in Oman to add another two victories to their growing win list. Thanks to a near-perfect set-up from teammate Luke Plapp, the Swiss champion sprinted to victory from a breakaway at the one-day Muscat Classic before adding a stage win at the Tour of Oman a few days later.
Plapp carried his strong form into the UAE Tour the following week, storming onto the overall podium after just missing out on the win on the queen stage. The result showed that he has made another step forward and is continuing his development as a general classification rider.
A successful return to Europe
Having hit the ground running in Australia and then Middle East, Team Jayco AlUla kept the good times going back in Europe at the five-day Coppi e Bartali.
The Australian team kept banging on the door of victory throughout the Italian race, notching up three second places, and spending a day in the leader’s jersey, before finally coming up trumps on the last day.
Thanks to a strong overall team performance, with support from the likes of Covi, Davide De Pretto, and Hamish McKenzie, Schmid took victory on the final stage and sealed the overall win. Alan Hatherly played a particularly important role in the team’s success in Italy and made it two Team Jayco AlUla riders on the final podium by taking third in the general classification in one of his strongest performances yet on the road.
Gene Bates – Head of Performance
“I think we had some fantastic results this season and we started the year well by hitting some good targets in the Australian summer. Mauro Schmid’s podium in Australia, his win in Oman and the team’s overall performances throughout February – there were some great ones such as Luke Plapp in the UAE Tour – really put us in a strong position to start with. In Europe, we saw some great performances from some of our newer members, like Andrea Vendrame.
We did have some bad luck, losing Michael Matthews at a critical moment when he was showing all of the signs of having his best-ever form leading into Milan-Sanremo. We again had some bad luck then at the Giro d’Italia, losing Vendrame with a very significant injury and also Amaury Capiot with another significant injury, it really did cost us, and it was heartbreaking to see those guys suffer such serious injuries. Nevertheless, I think we performed well throughout this period.”
Breakthrough rides and Tour de France success
There was plenty to celebrate in the spring and Foldager had his opportunity when he sprinted his way to his first WorldTour win at Brabantse Pijl. The Danish rider enjoyed a standout season throughout 2026, showing himself to be a burgeoning one-day talent with a string of other top-5 performances – including second in the road race at the Danish nationals.
Later in the season, Felix Engelhardt enjoyed his own “first” at the German national championships. Engelhardt got to show-off his stunning new MAAP jersey and special edition Giant Propel at his debut Tour de France, earning the most combative prize from the breakaway on day one and even stepping on the podium.
The 26-year-old carried his Tour de France form into the Arctic Race of Norway in August, taking fourth overall and just missing out on the podium by a few seconds.
The Tour de France only got better from there with the ever-aggressive Schmid taking a tension-filled stage victory during the second week. The team would come close two more times in the final week, taking second on a sprint stage before doing the same the following day on a mountainous parcours.
Matthews gets some bling and Covi closes season with a bang
Despite enduring a horrific crash in the spring, Matthews showed some real resilience and grit to get back into shape to race at the Tour de France. He played a big role in the team’s performance and notched up several top-10 finishes along the way.
It was heading into the autumn where he really hit his stride, particularly in his happy hunting ground of Canada. ‘Bling’ continued his impressive results at the Grand Prix Cycliste Québec, where he has never finished outside the top 10, by taking sixth in a stacked field.
Two weeks later, he stormed to a thrilling silver medal in the road race at the World Championships in Montréal – his fourth road race worlds medal and sixth top-10 finish.
North America also proved to be a happy hunting ground for Bob Donaldson, who helped to create the race-winning move at the Philadelphia Classic. The young British rider was part of a three-man move that made it to the line and sprinted for a strong second place, adding to a season that had already seen him claim a breakthrough top-five finish at In Flanders Fields (formerly Gent-Wevelgem).
Meanwhile, Covi enjoyed some good autumn form on home soil in Italy, ensuring that the team closed out the season in style. The 28-year-old darted out of a small group for a long-range sprint at the Giro del Veneto for his first win in Team Jayco AlUla colours.
Gene Bates – Head of Performance
“It was great to see Mauro deliver the team’s victory at the Tour de France, which was probably the highlight of the year. Going into the backend of the season, we did pay the price with multiple guys out with illness and injury. In spite of that, we still saw some great performances and Alessandro Covi’s victory at the Giro del Veneto and Michael Matthews performance at the World Championships.
Overall, I think we can be happy with our 2026 campaign. When we look back and look at some of the injuries and illnesses it does leave a feeling of ‘what if’ and what could have happened if we’d had all of those guys fit and healthy for racing. Something we’ll strive for going into next season is being ambitious, bold and having clear racing strategies. We’re confident as a team that we can take a step forward from 2026 and have a great season in 2027.”
Team Jayco AlUla 2026 podiums
1st Gran Premio Castellón – Michael Matthews
1st Muscat Classic – Mauro Schmid
1st Tour of Oman, stage 3 – Mauro Schmid
1st Coppi e Bartali, stage 5 – Mauro Schmid
1st Coppi e Bartali, overall classification – Mauro Schmid
1st Brabantse Pijl – Anders Foldager
1st Hungerburg Classic – Felix Engelhardt
1st German Road Race Championships – Felix Engelhardt
1st Tour de France, stage 13 – Mauro Schmid
1st Giro del Veneto – Alessandro Covi
2nd Australian National Road Race – Luke Plapp
2nd Tour Down Under, overall classification – Mauro Schmid
2nd UAE Tour, stage 6 – Luke Plapp
2nd Bredene Koksijde Classic – Pascal Ackermann
2nd Coppi e Bartali, stage 1 – Mauro Schmid
2nd Coppi e Bartali, stage 3 – Mauro Schmid
2nd Coppi e Bartali, stage 4 – Mauro Schmi
2nd NXT Classic – Mauro Schmid
2nd Flèche Wallonne – Mauro Schmid
2nd Tour de Wallonne, stage 1 – Anders Foldager
2nd Circuit Franco Belge – Anders Foldager
2nd Danish National Road Race – Anders Foldager
2nd Tour de France, stage 17 – Mauro Schmid
2nd Tour de France, stage 18 – Mauro Schmid
2nd Philadelphia Classic – Bob Donaldson
2nd World Road Race Championships – Michael Matthews
3rd Australian National Time Trial – Kelland O’Brien
3rd Tour Down Under, stage 2 – Mauro Schmid
3rd AlUla Tour, stage 2 – Pascal Ackermann
3rd Trofeo Ses Salines (TTT)
3rd South African National Time Trial – Alan Hatherly
3rd Muscat Classic – Luke Plapp
3rd Tour of Oman, stage 5 – Luke Plapp
3rd UAE Tour, overall classification – Luke Plapp
3rd Coppi e Bartali, stage 5 – Alan Hatherly
3rd Coppi e Bartali, overall classification – Alan Hatherly
3rd Tour de Hongrie, stage 4 – Luke Plapp
3rd Tour de Hongrie, overall classification – Luke Plapp
3rd Antwerp Port Epic – Dries De Bondt
3rd German National Time Trial – Jasha Sütterlin
3rd Giro del Lazio – Andrea Vendrame
