Monday 3 November 2014 11:22, UK
Former Team Sky sports director Sean Yates, who oversaw Sir Bradley Wiggins’ Tour de France victory in 2012, has agreed to take up the same role for Tinkoff-Saxo from next season.
The 54-year-old Englishman quit Team Sky at the end of the 2012 and said he was retiring from professional cycling.
He spent a year out of the sport before joining British outfit NFTO for the 2014 campaign, and has now completed his return to top-tier cycling by signing for one of Team Sky’s closest rivals.
Tinkoff-Saxo have announced Yates as one of four new additions to their staff, with Bobby Julich, also formerly of Team Sky, joining as head coach, Daniel Healey becoming head of sports science and Patxi Vila taking up a role as sports director.
It will require a lot of hard work, a lot of planning and a lot of communication by everybody involved. It’s going to be challenging but I like challenges.
In a Tinkoff-Saxo statement, Yates said: “[It is] an honour to be asked by Bjarne [Riis, the team manager] to join Tinkoff-Saxo. It is probably the only team I would work with right now and when the opportunity came along, it was too good to turn down.
“Nevertheless, becoming the world’s best team will not be an easy task. It will require a lot of hard work, a lot of planning and a lot of communication by everybody involved. It’s going to be challenging but I like challenges.”
American Julich was released Team Sky at the end of 2012 after admitting to using EPO between 1996 and 1998.
Together with Yates, they become the second and third former Team Sky staff members to join Tinkoff-Saxo, after Steven de Jongh made the switch in 2013.
Riis said: “[I am] happy to have Julich, Healey, Yates and Vila in the team. They are incredibly capable professionals and I consider them an asset for any team, as they come with tremendous motivation and great experience.
“They will play an important role in our new and ambitious set-up going into the next season and this reflects our clear ambition to deliver results in 2015.”
