Chris Harper will leave Jumbo-Visma at the end of this season to join BikeExchange-Jayco. The Australian has signed a two-year deal that will keep him in the GreenEdge set-up until the end of the 2024 campaign.
"I’m very excited to join Team BikeExchange-Jayco for the coming two seasons. Being an Australian, I’ve always admired the team and had a lot of respect for the staff and riders, so it is exciting to be joining them," Harper said in a statement released by his new team.
"I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter in my career and finding some good goals over the coming season and I hope that I can contribute to a lot of success within the team."
BikeExchange-Jayco have already announced the arrival of Eddie Dunbar from Ineos, while Michael Matthews and Simon Yates have both opted to extend their contracts with the team.
Harper first stepped up to the WorldTour in 2020, moving from Team BridgeLane to Jumbo-Visma, though his debut season at the top level was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
He made his lone Grand Tour appearance that October, but his race ended early when Jumbo-Visma elected to leave the race ahead of stage 10 following Steven Kruijswijk’s positive test for COVID-19.
In 2021, Harper underlined his quality by placing fourth overall at the UAE Tour, in a race where his teammate Jonas Vingegaard served notice of his potential by winning the stage to Jebel Jais. This season, the 27-year-old was part of the Jumbo-Visma team that helped Primož Roglič to overall victory at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
“It is always good for us to bring Australian talent to the team,” said BikeExchange-Jayco general manager Brent Copeland.
"Chris already knows a lot of the riders and staff well, being a rider from Australia, and we have only heard great things about him and seen how he has played a valuable role as a domestique rider in the biggest stage races in the world. We can’t wait to get started and we are confident it is going to be a great addition having Chris on our team in the hilly races."
