When Australian Jack Ward launched into the opening stage of the Tour of Shiny in December of 2024 and duly clung to WorldTour rider Luke Plapp’s wheel on the climb of Tawonga Hole earlier than sprinting to the stage 1 win, a path started to unfold that has now led to the 20-year-old mountain biker signing with growth crew, Lidl-Trek Future, by to the top of 2027.
It was that efficiency in Victoria’s excessive nation – with the rider in the end taking second total on the three-stage occasion behind Jayco-AlUla rider Plapp – that helped the younger home rider from the discontinuing Workforce Bridgelane males’s crew to safe a 2025 spot because the supported crew chief within the new Workforce Brennan p/b TP32 on the six-event ProVelo Tremendous League (PSL). Ward then made probably the most of that chance, claiming the win on the inaugural version of the collection
That ProVelo victory not solely delivered the assure of a 2025 stagiaire function with Jayco-AlUla – a a lot sought-after winner’s prize – however his performances by the occasions as soon as once more highlighted his mixed climbing prowess and dash energy, elevating the curiosity ranges of quite a lot of worldwide groups, together with Lidl-Trek Future. That meant in the long run Ward didn’t want the following step of that stagiaire function to start carving out his pathway to a global racing profession.
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“Because of my household and all these in my nook for getting me so far,” mentioned Ward on social media, pointing to Workforce Brennan, his agent Annette Edmondson of Paradigm Shift Sports activities and his coach Alex Quirk
“I’d prefer to take this second to additionally thank each ProVelo and Workforce Jayco-AlUla for the chance to tackle a stagiaire place this 12 months, which was the prize for profitable the ProVelo Tremendous League,” mentioned Ward. “It was an important alternative however in the end I really feel that becoming a member of Lidl-Trek Future Racing on a 2.5 12 months contract is the most effective step for me on my journey. See you on the street!”
The Gerry Ryan backed ProVelo Tremendous League, designed as a pathway to the WorldTour for Australian riders, welcomed the announcement of Ward’s bounce to a global crew.
“Supporting rising expertise and creating a real pathway to the world stage has at all times been on the coronary heart of PSL’s imaginative and prescient. Jack’s success is a robust reflection of that promise in motion,” mentioned the league on Instagram.
“This can be a monumental achievement and a proud second for Jack and everybody at PSL. We stay up for following Jack’s journey.”
The Victorian debuted the Lidl-Trek Future racing jersey on the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Sequence held in Val di Sole, Italy, coming tenth in his first race with the crew – the boys’s U23 short-track on Friday.
