Kurt Bogaerts, who has managed Irish national road teams for years and was also one of the key figures with An Post-Chainreaction, has joined Ineos Grenadiers as a coach and directeur.
Bogaerts had been working in recent
seasons with Trinity Racing, the elite team now stepping up to Continental
level and which is owned by Irish cycling agent Andrew McQuaid.
The main rider that team was built around for the past
three seasons, Tom Pidcock, has joined Ineos Grenadiers and Bogaerts
has made the same move at the same time.
A former rider himself, Bogaerts (43) stepped away from racing in 2006 and soon teamed up with Sean Kelly to in creating the Irish Continental team An Post-Chainreaction which ran for a decade before ceasing operations in 2017.
During that time, and in the few years since then, Bogaerts has also managed Irish teams and has worked closely in that regard with Eddie Dunbar, who he will not team up with once again at Ineos Grenadiers.
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“My position at Ineos Grenadiers can be described as a reinforcement of the performance staff and not just as a sports director,” Bogaerts told Nieuwsblad of his new job with the British WorldTour team.
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However, he added while he had worked with Pidcock very closely of late,
his move to Ineos Grenadiers at the same time as the 21-year-old was not
directly tied to Pidcock.
“What my actual role is within the team will become a bit clearer later. I still have to grow in my job. I will sit behind the wheel of the trailer a few times, but that will not be my top activity,” he said.
Bogaerts continued: “I will also be working on coaching. This not only with Tom but also with other young riders within the team. My new position is therefore very broad and therefore appeals to me. It is a very special challenge.
“I will start for the first time in the Tour des Alpes Maritimes en du Var
as the second sports director. I should have already started in the Tour of the
Algarve, but the coronavirus threw a spanner in the works there.”
He added his schedule would become clearer in time, as the racing programme gets firmer in what at uncertain times.
Bogaerts confirmed Pidcock, perhaps the most exciting young prospect to come out of Britain said Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish, would ride both Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on ‘opening weekend’ in Belgium.
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