Tayler Wiles signs with Drops for 2018

American Tayler Wiles has signed with Drops Pro Cycling, the team announced today. The 29-year-old moves across for the 2018 season after a successful season with UnitedHealthcare that also included a silver medal in the Pan American Championship time trial, the mountains classification win in the Tour de Feminin, and a stage win at the Thüringen Ladies Tour.

Tayler said in the team's press release that she is excited to join the Drops team where she will have a chance to be team leader and to mentor the younger riders.

"I'm really looking forward to being able to target specific races on the calendar and work with the team to produce some big results," Wiles said. "I have some big goals for the 2018 season starting with the hillier Spring Classics, time trials, and also a big focus on the stage races. I'm looking forward to being in a situation where I can confidently put my hand up for certain races and say, 'my goal is to win this race, let's make a plan and execute this together'.

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"I had a lot of opportunities this year with my current team UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling and it has taught me so much about leadership, setting big goals, and working with your teammates who believe in you to achieve them. I am also really excited to help the others achieve their goals as there are some incredibly talented young riders on the team that I believe are the future of the sport."

Team Director Bob Varney said he met Wiles at last year's Amgen Women's Race in California. "She made some positive comments about our team which gave me confidence in what we were doing.

"She will fit comfortably within the group, naturally sharing our core values of team work and mentoring the younger riders. Signing Tayler Wiles is a firm statement of intent of our ambition, we are all extremely excited to welcome her, and to start working with her."

Wiles joins previous signings Molly Weaver, Dutch rider Eva Buurman, and retired racer and former teammate of Wiles', Lauren Rowney, who signed on to the team's staff.

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