By Owen Morgan
A successful season has helped land Welsh cyclist Jess Roberts her first professional contract with one of the sport’s top road teams.
The 20-year-old from Carmarthenshire has signed a two-season deal, starting next year, with prestigious World Tour team Mitchelton-SCOTT.
Roberts comes from a background in track cycling but has displayed her huge potential on the road, having won the British Road Race Championships last year when she was just 19 years old. She also represented Wales in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games road race.
This year has seen her build on that road promise by gaining two stage wins at the Tour De Bretagne, where she finished fifth overall.
On the track, Roberts competed at this summer’s European Games in Belarus where she won silver in the team pursuit with Megan Barker, before teaming up with her fellow Welsh rider again to take gold in the Madison.
Commenting on her move from UK-based Team Breeze, Roberts said: “I’m really excited to join Mitchelton-SCOTT and look forward to learning from some of the best riders in the world.
“It’s my first pro contract, so it’s a big step up but I feel this is the right team for me to grow and develop for the future.
“It’s really special for me to be stepping up to World Tour. It feels quite surreal saying I’m part of it and I’m really excited to see what the future brings.
“I’ve heard lots of good things about Mitchelton-SCOTT. It seems like it’s a nice chilled atmosphere where you can have fun as well as be serious and race hard on the bikes.”
The Australian team boasts some of the best riders in the world, including Dutch Giro Rosa winner and UCI World Time Trial Champion, Annemiek van Vleuten.
Soo excited to be part of this team for the next 2 years https://t.co/u1Xn8ig2DX
— Jess Roberts (@JessRoberts_99) September 23, 2019
Roberts, whose sister Amy is also a professional cyclist, says the move will benefit her ambitions to focus more on road racing.
“I think for me it’s the right time to move on to a bigger team to keep pushing myself which is important for my development.
“In the future I would like to put more focus just on the road, so I feel making this step now will help me achieve my road goals.
“The whole experience is new to me but I will always put 100% into helping my teammates and I’m always willing to learn new things. It’s really exciting for me to be on the same team as riders like Annemiek van Vleuten as this will enhance my development even more.”
For their part, Mitchelton -SCOTT are delighted to have signed such a promising young talent to their roster.
Sport Director Martin Vestby said Roberts’ track speed will be a welcome addition to the team’s armoury.
“We wanted to fill a slight gap in the team and get a pure sprinter,” said Vestby. “We had the choice of going for somebody already established or find a new talent that we can let grow in the team and build up in the coming years, and we opted for the latter.
“Jess is a really interesting rider and has shown great potential in the road races she has done this season and of course last year winning the British Championships when she was just 19 years old.
“She comes from the track and is hoping to go to Tokyo so next year her programme will depend a little bit on that but we are really excited to be a part of her development and journey.”