Ian Boswell’s transfer from Team Sky to Katusha-Alpecin caught many off-guard but the American’s move came about thanks to some slick behind the scenes work from his agents, a passionate pursuit from Katusha’s Jose Azevedo, and hesitation on the part of Team Sky. Cyclingnews takes a look at the mechanics of how Boswell swapped Team Sky black for Katusha red.
Boswell’s path from Team Sky to Katusha started in May. In the final year of his current deal with Dave Brailsford’s team, the 26-year-old put together a list of potential teams he was interested in riding for and sent them to his agent, Michael Rutherford. The US-based lawyer has represented Boswell since 2010, when he helped the then young rider onto the Trek-Livestrong team for the 2011 season. He later secured the rider a three-year deal with Team Sky from 2012 – a rarity for a first-year professional, as they tend to sign two-year deals for their maiden professional contracts.
Rutherford has represented a number of home grown talents over the years, including Tejay van Garderen and Chris Horner. In recent years he has teamed up with former professional Robbie Hunter, who acts as a partner in Europe. When Boswell finished putting together his list of potential teams, he passed them to Rutherford and Hunter who immediately began approaching bosses within the WorldTour.
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At this point Boswell was not determined to leave Team Sky, but he was unclear as to whether they would extend his contract for a third time. He still had hopes of making the Tour de France team and thought that a strong ride in the Tour of California might bump him up their long list.
“I just think it’s always good to see what’s out there and see what options there are,” Boswell tells Cyclingnews when discussing his motives during the spring. “Robbie was at the Giro and he was talking to teams and getting a sense of what they were looking for.”
Boswell’s list wasn’t overly long but it was certainly eclectic. If he were to leave Team Sky then he would consider Dimension Data, Katusha-Alpecin, Trek-Segafredo, Cannondale, FDJ, and LottoNL-Jumbo. Talks with the South African team didn’t get off the ground and when Boswell himself approached Trek they politely informed him that they were close-to full. Cannondale were focused on securing their long-term future, but Katusha, FDJ and LottoNL-Jumbo came back with positive responses.
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