Liv AlUla Jayco have promoted Australian talent Talia Appleton to their WorldTour team with immediate effect, after the 20-year-old impressed during the opening months of 2026 with the squad’s Continental development programme.
Appleton, from Mansfield in Victoria, has signed with the elite team for the remainder of 2026 and through the 2027 season. The move comes after a consistent start to the year in Europe, where she has produced a string of top-10 results, particularly on hilly terrain, and has already raced up with the WorldTour squad on several occasions.
Appleton earns mid-season WorldTour promotion
Appleton joined the Liv AlUla Jayco Women’s Continental Team in January and has spent the early part of the season racing and living full-time in Europe. That transition is often a major step for young Australian riders, not only because of the racing level, but because of the travel, recovery demands and adjustment to a different racing culture.
Her performances have quickly justified the move. Appleton was 3rd overall at the Vuelta a Extremadura, 7th at Clásica de Almería, 7th at GP de Chambery and 8th at the Australian road race championships. Those results point to a rider already capable of handling selective terrain and maintaining consistency across different types of race.
For Liv AlUla Jayco, the timing makes sense. Appleton has not simply shown potential in the development team. She has already stepped into Women’s WorldTour environments and proved she can cope physically and mentally with the demands of the elite peloton.
Photo Credit: Rafa Gomez/SprintCyclingAgency‘Racing in the WorldTour has been a dream’
Appleton said the promotion was a major moment in her career, having long targeted a place at the highest level.
“I’m thrilled to take the next step and turn professional with GreenEDGE Cycling,” Appleton said. “This opportunity means so much to me as racing in the WorldTour has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid.”
She also credited the Continental team with helping her settle into European racing and accelerate her development.
“I am incredibly grateful for the chance to have been a part of the Liv AlUla Jayco Women’s Continental Team so far this season,” she said. “The team’s strong focus on development has given me so many opportunities to learn, gain experience, and develop as a rider, while also helping me settle into life in Europe ahead of my first full season over here.”
Appleton pointed to the development team’s wider success in 2026 as evidence of the strength of the environment around her. The squad has already collected professional wins and podiums this season, giving its young riders a clear sense that the pathway is more than a formal structure.
Development pathway continues to produce WorldTour riders
Appleton becomes the latest rider to move from the Liv AlUla Jayco Continental team into the WorldTour squad, following Mackenzie Coupland, Matilde Vitillo and Noä Jansen.
That is important for GreenEDGE Cycling because development teams only carry real value when there is a visible route upwards. Appleton’s promotion gives the next group of young riders a clear example: strong performances, adaptation to European racing and the ability to handle race-up opportunities can lead directly to a WorldTour contract.
“Having the chance to race up within the WorldTeam shows the clear pathway to the WorldTour and has given me a taste for what to expect in the professional peloton,” Appleton said. “Looking back at how much I have already learnt this season makes me really excited to continue developing with this team and contribute to its success.”
The move also strengthens the Australian identity of the team. Liv AlUla Jayco already has deep links to Australian cycling, and promoting a 20-year-old Victorian rider into the top squad fits the wider story of the organisation bringing through domestic talent for the international stage. It also adds another young name to a growing group of riders shaping the next phase of women’s cycling.
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Photo Credit: Getty
Stroetinga: Appleton belongs at WorldTour level
Liv AlUla Jayco head sport director Wim Stroetinga said Appleton’s climbing ability and mentality made her ready for the step up.
“We are very pleased with Talia’s move to the WorldTour team,” Stroetinga said. “We have followed her development closely during her time in the Devo team, and once again this season she has taken a clear step forward. Her climbing abilities and mindset are at a level that fully fits the demands of WorldTour racing and she will make an already strong team even stronger.”
Appleton will not have to wait long for her first block as a full WorldTour rider. She is set to race with Liv AlUla Jayco this week in Navarra and Itzulia Women, giving her an immediate introduction to another demanding Spanish racing block.
“She will race with us already this week in Navarra and Itzulia, and we are really looking forward to lining up with her,” Stroetinga said. “For now, our focus is on guiding her well and setting out a clear long-term development plan. The Devo team has done an excellent job supporting her so far, and we will continue that structured approach.”
A long-term climbing prospect for Liv AlUla Jayco
Appleton’s promotion gives Liv AlUla Jayco another young rider with clear climbing potential at a time when the women’s peloton is becoming deeper and more demanding. Her early results suggest she is already comfortable on harder terrain, while her rapid adaptation to European racing hints at a rider who can keep developing quickly with the right support.
The team’s immediate challenge will be to balance opportunity with patience. Appleton has already shown enough to earn a WorldTour contract, but at 20 years old, the important work is still ahead: building race craft, learning when to conserve energy, handling the pressure of bigger events and turning strong results into repeatable performances across the season.
Liv AlUla Jayco appear ready to take that long-term view. Appleton arrives in the WorldTour not as a finished product, but as one of the most promising riders to emerge from the team’s development pathway. Her next step starts in Spain, where Navarra and Itzulia will offer an immediate test of how far that progression has already come.
