Hagens Berman-Jayco confirmed Ben Wiggins and Adam Rafferty as part of five new roster additions for next season while Artem Shmidt leads a group of five returning riders. Announcements about a group of other fresh signings will be made in the coming weeks to bring the roster to 16 for 2024.
Wiggins is among a trio of 18-year-old talents joining the US development team, and the Briton carving his own path on the bike aside from his notoriety as the son of Sir Bradley Wiggins, the 2012 Tour de France champion. Like his father, Ben Wiggins combines track and road racing.
He became European junior champion in the points race in 2022 and won the junior men’s time trial title at Road World Championships in Sterling this year. He has competed on the road in Europe with the Fensham Howes-Mas junior team, which is run by Tom Pidcock's father.
“Joining HBA was a no-brainer for me. I’d been talking to Axel [Merckx] for a while and I’ve always admired the team, knowing the history of the team, and how many guys have gone to the next level from the team. I knew straight away that it was the right place for me to develop and try to get to the World Tour,” the young Wiggins said in a team statement.
The teenager from Liverpool, England said he would like to improve his climbing, as he brings a powerful engine for time trialling and one-day Classics.
“We are very excited to have Ben join the program,” said team owner and director Axel Merckx. "His second place at this year’s world championship showed his talent, but we all know there is still a long road ahead. Ben and I both have a famous last name and I can try and help him navigate through everything that it brings. It’s not something very many people experience, so in that matter, we already have lots in common.”
Adam Rafferty is another TT specialist, who rode part of the year with French club Team 31 Jolly Cycles, and learned the ropes on the road as a stagiaire with Jayco. He is the reigning Irish ITT junior champion and was eighth at Junior Worlds in the race against the clock. He follows his older brother Darren on the US-based development team, who departed at the end of 2023 for two years at EF Education-EasyPost.
Like Rafferty and Wiggins, Italian Samuele Privitera is also 18 and he joins from a year at club level where he had four podiums, including a win at Coppa di Maggio.
“I have been following the team since [João] Almeida raced here. Last year, I was an intern at the team's camp in Tuscany and I really fell in love with Axel's passion and the organization of the team,” he said. “Next year I would like to improve my climbing characteristics more and more and certainly think I’m on the right team to do so.”
Rounding out the early list of new riders is Hamish McKenzie of Australia, 19, and Mattia Sambinello of Italy, the youngest at 17. McKenzie earned the bronze medal in the men’s U23 ITT at Worlds, then performed as a trainee late in the season with Team Jayco-AlUla, completing the Arctic Race of Norway and several one-day races. The year before, he captured the men’s junior Australian time trial title, and was second at Worlds.
The youngest signing for next season is 17-year-old Sambinello, who raced last season for club team Canturino 1902 A.s.d. He sees himself as an all-rounder, having demonstrated abilities to climb and follow with a fast finish. He had three wins last season including Giro della Castellania and GP Ticino.
Among the returning riders is 19-year-old Shmidt, who in 2022 won silver medals in the ITT and road race at the US Junior National Championships and was fifth on the road at Junior Worlds. He began 2023 with a hilly stage win at Istarsko Proljeće-Istrian Spring Trophy in Croatia. Later in the spring he was fifth on the opening stage at Alpes Isère Tour in France, where he was the top-placed Axeon rider in the GC at 14th overall. He also took third at the U23 Coppa della Pace one-day Italian contest.
Returning alongside Shmidt are Dane Kasper Anderson, Frenchman Nino De Jong, Portuguese junior men’s road race champion Gonçalo Tavares and Belgian climber Maxence Place.
The long-running Continental squad, now in their 15th season, extended title sponsorship with Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP for three more seasons, and added Jayco as a new co-title sponsor. Launched by Merckx for the 2009 racing season as the Trek-Livestrong U23 team, the programme continues to develop youth talent in cycling and has had 45 riders graduate to the UCI WorldTour ranks.
