Hagens Berman Axeon Jayco completed its 2024 roster in late December with Alastair McKellar, the reigning 2023 Under 23 Road National Champion, and Bizaye Ledaye, the reigning Ethiopian Road National Champion Combined with 21-year-old Adam Holm Jorgensen of Denmark and the three players who joined in the final week of 2023, the U.S.-based Continental team now has 11 of the 13 new riders on its roster for the new season.

The two U.S. riders include 2023 junior road race champion Darren Parham and U23 national time trial silver medalist Evan Boyle, while teenager Matthew Cole (GBR) rounds out the international team, which includes two new riders, the first of whom is a young rider from the United States.

"We hired young riders and needed to add some U23 experience to the team. Alastair has achieved great results and will serve as captain of the team's young riders," said team owner and manager Axel Merckx. The trio of McKellar, Ledae and Holm Jorgensen is 21 years old.

McKellar has spent the past three seasons at Israel's Premier Tech Academy, where he has shown talent in breakaways and intermediate mountains, winning his first UCI stage win at the 2021 GP Internacional Torres Vedras, followed by a hilly stage at Volta Portugal He finished second. Although he missed this week's Australian Championships to defend his title, new teammate Hamish McKenzie began his campaign in his hometown, winning silver in the U23 men's time trial.

Redae became the first national champion from an African country to participate in the Axeon program, which Merckx started as the Trek Livestrong U23 team in the 2009 racing season. The 20-year-old, who finished third in the elite men's ITT in Ethiopia and 10th in the same event at the U23 African Continental Championships, considers himself an all-rounder and is looking to improve his endurance on long stages.

"Bizaye (Ledaye) is a very talented young rider. We will mentor him and give him the support he needs to fulfill his dream of becoming a World Tour rider," Merckx said.

"Adam (Holm Jorgensen) was a stadia rider at Jayco Alura and showed he has what it takes to be a good World Tour rider. Matthew [Cole] is the type of rider I was looking for. He had a bad crash at the end of the season, but Matthew has time to come back and continue to grow in our system."

Holm Jorgensen joins from the BHS-PL Beton Bornholm team in Denmark, where he won stages at the Tour de Lavenir the past two years and placed fourth at the U23 Gent-Wevelgem in 2022. Cole, who joined the Axeon team from the Zappi Junior Race Team, is a promising 18-year-old from Yorkshire who broke both legs during a race late last year. He won the GC at Gipuzkoa Classicoa in April and was 10th overall at Bizkaiko Ituria in July. The year before that he won the Hazarey Junior Road Race.

"My first goal is to get back to full strength and fitness after my fall. After that, I'm really looking forward to racing with the team and hopefully getting some race results for the second half of the season," Cole said in a team statement.

"It's a great addition to the Hagens Berman Axiom team and I'm looking forward to getting back to full fitness and fitness.

Along with returning 19-year-old Artem Schmidt, another teenager, Boyle and Parham are the only American riders on the roster.

"Darren is young and very inexperienced, but he is learning a lot and showing an attitude and drive to improve himself. how he adapts to the U23 category remains to be seen, but he has the right mindset. how Evan rode in the US Pro Championships time trial was impressive and I heard a lot of good things about him. I was impressed with Evan's performance in the time trial at the US Pro Championships and have heard many good things about him. He has only been racing for a short time so I feel he has a lot of room to grow. "

Ben Wiggins, son of 2012 Tour de France champion Sir Bradley Wiggins, is one of the new riders already confirmed, along with Adam Lafferty, Samuele Privitera, Mattia Sanvinello and Mackenzie.

The two returning riders are Schmidt, who finished fifth in the junior men's road race for Team USA at the 2023 Road World Championships, and Dane Kasper Andersen, who is in his third year with the team.

Entering its 15th season, the team has extended its title sponsorship agreement with Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP through 2026, adding Jayco as a new co-title sponsor.