Ruby Roseman-Gannon will step up to the Women's WorldTour with Team BikeExchange starting with her first full season of European racing in 2022. The 22-year-old rider from Victoria, Australia, has signed a two-year contract that will see her develop with the top-tier squad through 2023.
“I am super excited to be joining Team BikeExchange as I have grown up watching this team on my TV as a young aspiring cyclist and it means the world to me to be able to race for them," Roseman-Gannon said.
"It will be my first time racing for an international team and I’m hoping to race as much as I can and soak up the experience and learn as much as possible from riders such as Amanda Spratt and Jess Allen. From the outside, the team has always seemed like a perfect mix of professionalism and fun, and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”
Roseman-Gannon finished third at this year’s Santos Festival of Cycling while racing for Ara Pro-Racing Sunshine Coast, finishing just behind overall winner Sarah Gigante, who was racing for Team Garmin Australia, and runner-up Lucy Kennedy for Team BikeExchange. She was also sixth place at the Race Torquay and 12th place at the WorldTour event Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, both in 2020.
“Ruby is a young talent, and we are really glad to have her with us for the upcoming years. She has shown great potential with strong results, and we will give her all the tools we have available to help her grow and become one of the best riders in the peloton," said Brent Copeland, General Manager at Team BikeExchange.
"We are continuously looking for young talented Australian riders for our team and this is another perfect example of our vision for the future.”
Roseman-Gannon spent a brief period racing in Europe in 2019 with the Australian national team, however, according to the BikeExchange press release, the covid-19 pandemic prevented her from returning for the two next seasons.
"She is an exciting rider, who can develop in various ways in the future. This will be the biggest task for us, especially during the first year. We have to work together with her to understand which kind of rider she can be for her future," the team's sports director Martin Vestby.
"This is a really stimulating project for us, and we have lots of experience in bringing in young talent and helping them grow. We will need to define her areas to develop and work as much as we can to make her the best rider possible.
"The first season she’ll need time to adapt to a full WorldTour season, which is completely different to what she is used to, but we will support her in the best way and we expect her to make the best out of this opportunity.”
Team BikeExchange have also announced signing American all-rounder Kristen Faulkner from TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank, alongside returning riders Amanda Spratt, Teniel Campbell and Arianna Fidanza. There are a series of riders leaving the programme including Grace Brown to FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope, Sarah Roy to Canyon-SRAM, Jessica Roberts to Team Coop-Hitec, while Janneke Ensing and Lucy Kennedy have retired.
