A feel-good full-circle story has emerged with news that the JEGG-SKIL-DJR junior team have added the 17-year-old British rider Xander Graham to their roster for 2027.
It's hardly the biggest of transfer stories on the face of it, but for those with particularly sharp memories the name might just ring a bell.
Graham found fame five years ago at the Tour of Britain, as the young boy who blasted up the pavement on his bike at the Tour of Britain, holding an impressive speed that saw him hold off the breakaway for a good few hundred metres. When the pros did pull up alongside him, the Jumbo-Visma rider Pascal Eenkhoorn held out a bottle, which Graham skillfully accepted while riding one-handed.
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And so a viral clip was born.
The moment captured the imagination, and it was capitalised upon when 12-year-old Graham was invited to the stage start the next morning and met the likes of Mark Cavendish before being presented with a Jumbo-Visma jersey by Eenkhoorn.
At the time, his father revealed it was "Xander’s dream to be a professional cyclist". And now he's one step closer to that dream, as the JEGG-SKIL-DJR U19 team announced his arrival on Friday.
It's a big moment for Graham, now 17, but also the continuation of this story as the team is affiliated to Visma-Lease a Bike, the same WorldTour team Eenkhoorn was riding for on that day five years ago.
"I feel it’s the right team for me to keep developing, race at the highest level and take the next step in my cycling career. I really like the team’s focus on developing young riders, and I’m excited to be part of it," Graham said.
The team added: "A strong rider for hilly races, Xander already has an impressive palmarès, including the Young GC Leaders Jersey and overall GC Leaders Jersey at the Vuelta del Duero, as well as 2nd in the British National Trophy Series Cyclocross and the Scottish National Cyclocross title."
Visma-Lease a Bike says its partnership with JEGG-SKIL-DJR is designed "to bring together talented juniors from both domestic and international backgrounds and prepare them for the transition to our professional cycling team".
In another five years' time, will we see Xander Graham in the WorldTour?
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