All aboard the sport director merry-go-round as WorldTour teams reshape staffing

This article originally appeared on Velo News

The rider transfer market is almost at a close with most of the WorldTour settled for next year. There are obvious exceptions given the uncertainty surrounding some teams and riders but on the whole, most of the major signings have been made.

While most of the headlines this summer have focused on the likes of Richard Carapaz to EF Education-EasyPost, Remco Evenepoel's saga, and Mark Cavendish's future - there has also been a raft of changes when it comes to sports directors.

At Ineos Grenadiers, Brett Lancaster, Servais Knaven and Gabriel Rasch, have all been confirmed as leaving.

Lancaster has returned to Australia, while Rasch has joined Uno-X for the coming season. Ian Stannard is set to return to the team he used to ride for after a stint at Trinity Racing, with Peter Kennaugh expected to take on more responsibility at the U23 team. According to sources, the Trinity management is still on the lookout for another director. Another director linked to Ineos is Dajo Sanders, with Wielerflits reporting that he will follow Thymen Arensman to the team.

Read More: Rider transfers 2023: Everything you need to know about rider moves in the men's peloton

Astana, Jumbo-Visma, Ag2r-Citroen, Bahrain Victorious and Trek-Segafredo have informed VeloNews that there will be no changes inside their respective team cars for 2023 but there are several major changes at Team DSM.

Kelvin Dekker, the current performance manager at the Allinq Continental will help at the women’s program, while Callum Ferguson, who currently coaches at Zappi Racing team, will focus on the men’s program. Christian Guiberteau will move across from Cofidis. He was part of the team between 2011 and 2015. Joey van Rhee has been brought in to help with the development team.

Marcel Sieberg, Huub Duijn, Sebastian Deckert and Boris Zimine are leaving the organization. Sanders, as reported earlier, has been linked with Ineos Grenadiers.

At Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert, Laurenzo Lapage, Dimitri Claeys, Kevin van Melsen are joining the team as directors.

Lapage has worked with US Postal, Astana, and Mitchelton-Scott since retiring as a rider. Claeys and van Melsen will both hang up their wheels as a pro this winter and move directly into the team car. Hilaire Van der Schueren, a sports director for the last 50 years, will have reduced the program in 2023 before retiring completely.

UAE Team Emirates has told VeloNews that they have one sports director set to arrive but that name has not yet been announced. The team of Tadej Pogacar has confirmed that Aart Vierhouten will leave this season.

Israel Premier-Tech is set for a number of changes but would not confirm any updates when contacted by VeloNews. We have heard that Sam Bewley is on his way to the team as a director after ending his pro career recently at Team BikeExchange.

At QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl, two directors have left with Rik van Slycke and Brian Holm departing, while Iljo Keisse will help cover the void after he too retired from the sport.

At Team BikeExchange, Gene Bates has left the team after the Vuelta a Espana to take up a vacancy at Cycling Australia, with Rafael Valls replacing him.

Finally, Sebastian Langeveld will take up a director’s role at EF Education-EasyPost, and Kurt Van de Wouwer has stepped up at Lotto Dstny as the sporting manager. The Belgian team is still looking for a CEO after John Lelangue departed following the team's WorldTour relegation.

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