Team Sky have announced that the British Cycling men’s team pursuit coach Dan Hunt will return to the fold as their new sports director. Hunt, who helped mastermind the world record-breaking defence of the GB team pursuit Olympic title in London, had originally been part of Team Sky during its inaugural season in 2010 and with the team and British Cycling sharing a base at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester (in addition to their common leader in Dave Brailsford) his fit seems both obvious and timely.
After several years away from the squad Hunt admits he wants to, ‘…learn the races and re-learn the job of a Sports Director. But maybe also bring different things to the table, because I’m not an ex-pro. I haven’t ridden these races, so I’ve got a bit of homework to do.’
However he (and presumably Team Sky) see this lack of pro-rider experience as an advantage – ‘I think you have to look outside of your own world,’ says Hunt, ‘Otherwise the team surrounds itself with people who act, think and believe in similar things. We have a really nice mix in the coaching team and together we’ve got all the skills. As long as we keep on operating as a team I think we’ll be fine…’
