Unlike football where a manager can be a bigger star than his players, the directeur sportif role is largely unheralded in cycling. A Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho's coaching chops may be measured by the titles they've won, but the DS' in the peloton aren't ranked and rated by the Tour de France's they've planned and executed from behind the steering wheel.
Team Sunweb's 2017 season has arguably been its best to date with Giro d'Italia victory, four stages and two classifications at the Tour de France, and a team time trial world title. Instrumental to those results and the growth of the team has been Australian Luke Roberts. An Olympic gold medallist on the track, Roberts has become one of the most tactically intriguing directeur sportifs in the peloton.
Roberts cut his teeth in the team car with the Stolting, and Cult Energy teams prior to joining the Sunweb set up in 2016. When looking at teams in the WorldTour that he wanted to join, Roberts explained to Cyclingnews that Sunweb's commitment to a long-term plan ensured it was his first pick.
ADVERTISEMENT
"That is one of the strengths of this team and also why I approached this team as my first choice to work with," Roberts told Cyclingnews. "I had throughout my own career instability with teams. I was involved with the Pegasus team, I had signed a contract there so I had quite some experience. When I was with Milram, the first year I was there they had some issues and then the second year it didn't continue. I looked for a team that had a slow progressive build up and wants to be around for a long time. They are always thinking about the future and making decisions now to help them be here for a long time. I guess it comes across obvious now, they are not shy about handing across three-year contract for riders. Which is not very common in this day and age. It also gives riders that sense of security knowing that the management is working for a long-term future."
Roberts also takes a long-term approach to his own coaching and directeur sportif role and assesses his own performances with the same analytical approach he does with his riders.
"Last year was my first season and I needed to find my feet within the team and get to know the riders. I did the Giro and the Vuelta last year and I was in a development stage in my own way of working," he explained. "This year again I've found that I keep taking steps in my own development as a coach or directeur sportif. At the beginning of the Giro, you have a new group and you try to bind that group and make a super team out of a group of bike riders that haven't necessarily done every race together or know each other 100 percent. We try to bind that group and create a good atmosphere and have them all fighting for that one goal."
Tour de France success
Planning for the future
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://ift.tt/2yvqrTY
No comments:
Post a Comment