Alison Jackson races in 2023 for a fourth season on the Women’s WorldTour, excited to be healthy for the Spring Classics and contribute to a ‘new’ team as part of its growing foundation.
A sense of purpose looms large for the Canadian, who sees it not only as a reciprocal situation for success this year but also as an opportunity to reform a bit of déjà vu. Jackson returns to the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB programme after three years, the team having moved from the Continental level to the world’s top stage during her departure.
Jackson recognises a re-energised environment, a new title sponsor, all new faces except one teammate, Lauren Stephens, and an expanded infrastructure in a full commitment to WorldTour success. Time to ‘believe’, as fictional soccer coach Ted Lasso would declare.
“You know, for some of the reasons why I left, I just saw those gaps being filled. They brought on so many resources. They really have a lot of ambition to be a top-five team,” Jackson told Cyclingnews at the start of the year.
“And, you need to have all these difference-makers that really come on board with staffing and equipment and all these behind the scene things, basically. And so it was just really exciting to watch the team’s progress.
“They have some great climbers, which is also really exciting for me to be able to go into races having teammates that I believe can win, and do things that I don’t have the skill set to do. And that’s really exciting to get to be a part of the teamwork.”
The base for team chemistry began last year when EF Education-TIBCO-SVB earned 13 wins in its debut at the top-tier level. In addition to Jackson, the team added only one other rider, New Zealander Georgia Williams, and both have helped boost the team’s results sheet, six podiums to date, and forge immediate chemistry.
Williams finished with two stage podiums at the Santos Tour Down Under plus a national title in the time trial, while Jackson scored a second place at Clasica de Almería, followed by a top 10 on stage 2 at Setmana Ciclista Valenciana. Then one day removed from the hills of eastern Tuscany at Strade Bianche Donne, Jackson found her Classics legs along the Italian Riviera at Cinquale and sprinted from the chasers to finish one step off the podium at Trofeo Oro.
“I always enjoyed my time on TIBCO-SVB when I was on the team. And when EF came on board, it was really interesting just watching the team grow,” said Jackson, who raced with…
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