News has broken a number of times in recent weeks of Aqua Blue Sport riders securing teams for next year. And now it’s the turn of some of the staff at the now defunct Irish squad; Irish coach Stephen Barrett staying in the pro game next year.
Cork man Barrett has been signed as part of the coaching staff with French WorldTour outfit AG2R-La Mondiale. A former international Irish road rider, he signed up as director of athletic performance when Aqua Blue Sport launched two years ago.
And last year he was head of performance at the Irish ProContinental team. Barrett is not the only person from the now ceased team to join AG2R-La Mondiale. Former US champion, Larry Warbasse, has also signed for the team, to assist Grand Tour favourite Romain Bardet in the mountains.
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Indeed, Warbasse said that when he and Conor Dunne set out on their bike-packing tour after the team stopped, Barrett had put together a programme for him. He took to social media to share the plan, praising Barrett for continuing to guide him despite their now former team winding up.
Stephen Barrett rode the Rás on the national team in 2009 in what was in his debut appearance in the race. He would later ride for the elite track squad at a number of UCI World Cup events.
Barrett’s joining the French team comes as other performance staff have departed. Samuel Bellenoue has left and is joining Wanty-Groupe-Gobert as performance director.
He specialised in preparing the riders for hard climbing efforts at altitude and has been an important staff member at the team.
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