Italian sprinter and track rider Letizia Paternoster will move from Trek-Segafredo to BikeExchange-Jayco in 2023, boosting the Australian team’s sprint group.
The former European U23 road race champion and multiple world and European track champion is just 23 and considered one of the most talented riders of the new generation of Italian riders. She has faced a series of injuries in 2020 and 2021 but appears back to her best this year.
Paternoster’s father is Australian and so she has a special link to the BikeExchange-Jayco team. She won the opening stage of the 2019 Santos Women's Tour Down Under on her debut with Trek-Segafredo and has recently shown excellent form on the track, winning the world title in the Elimination Race and the individual pursuit at the Cali World Cup in Colombia.
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She did not ride the Giro d'Italia Donne or the Tour de France Femmes but is likely to have a protected role at the European road race championships in Munich.
“I am very happy and excited about beginning the new season with GreenEdge Cycling, I can’t wait to get started. I’m extremely motivated to do well and with this new experience I am sure we will achieve great results,” Paternoster said.
“From what I have seen and what I heard; I am confident that I will find my place with Team BikeExchange-Jayco. I look forward to meeting all my new teammates and building a strong relationship with all of them and I hope we will achieve important results together. I just need to hold on with my excitement and grit a bit longer before the new season will begin.”
Paternoster has agreed a two-year contract that will cover the Paris Olympics in 2024.
BikeExchange-Jayco owner Gerry Ryan has recently confirmed his backingf of the team for the next three years despite worries about relegation from the men’s WorldTour.
The team has agreed new contracts with Michael Matthews, Simon Yates and Urška Žigart and announced the arrival of Eddie Dunbar from Ineos Grenadiers. Other signings are expected, with Italian national champion Filippo Zana expected to join the team for 2023.
BikeExchange-Jayco believe that Paternoster will give their women’s team more options in sprint finishes and the spring Classics. Their current roster includes Kristen Faulkner and Ruby Roseman-Gannon but Amanda Spratt is likely to move on in a very competitive women’s transfer market.
“We feel that Letizia will fit in very well in the women’s squad and it is exciting for us to be bringing on such a fast finisher that will give the team many more options to challenge for top results across the women’s WorldTour calendar,” team manager Brent Copeland said.
“There is no doubting it that Letizia is a huge talent, and it is hard to believe her age with the number of results she has already achieved. It is always exciting signing a rider like this that has so much experience but also so much potential still to give.”
