Three British riders – Jed Smithson, Tomos Pattinson and Matthew Brennan – will join Jumbo Visma’s development squad for 2024.
The trio, all of whom are 17 years old, will race next season in under-23 events with the Dutch team, as they continue their progress towards the professional ranks. The under-23 Jumbo squad recently won the Baby Giro through young Norwegian rider Johannes Staune-Mittet.
In a press release shared on Friday, the team’s development director Robbert de Groot said: “These are three riders from the top of the junior peloton that we have scouted very carefully.
“They are well-rounded riders who have already proven themselves. Tomos has experience on the track and in cyclocross, while Jed and Matthew have track backgrounds. With them, we have a good group of young riders that we are now starting to develop.
“Based on their performance, training data, and personalities, they have everything necessary to succeed as professionals.”
This season, all three cyclists have added major results to their palmarès. Pattinson won the junior version of Liège-Bastogne-Liège in May, Smithson won the junior Danilith Nokere Koerse and Brennan claimed victory in the two-day Belgian event Guido Reybrouck Classic.
Their signings coincide with a drive in recruitment of British talent at Jumbo-Visma. This season, for the first time in over 30 years, the team’s WorldTour roster lists a Brit – 21-year-old Thomas Gloag, who received a late call-up to the Giro d’Italia in May.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly in January, the team’s sports director Grischa Niermann said: “I think right now there are a lot of young riders coming out of Britain who are really big talents.
“[We look at] talents that we think suit well into our programme, into our team,” he added. “It’s probably not likely that that is a Colombian rider, for example, but Northern Europeans, Scandinavians, British riders.”
Both Smithson and Brennan are part of British Cycling’s junior academy, a talent pathway for developing future Olympic stars.
In November last year, Cycling Weekly revealed that British Cycling had plans to cut back its under-23 road programme for 2024, encouraging riders to find trade teams. It is expected that the national federation will only send its academy prospects to two events in 2024 – the World and European Championships.