DS Tristan Hoffman and DS Dan Frost got hammered out training(Image credit: Sabine Sunderland/Cyclingnews)
Carsten Jeppesen, Dave Brailsford and Marcus Ljungqvist chat about the training ride ahead.(Image credit: Richard Moore)
Dan Frost has joined Team Sky as a directeur sportif after eight seasons in a similar role at Saxo-Tinkoff. The Dane’s arrival is offset by the departure of Marcus Ljungqvist, which Sky also announced on Tuesday.
Winner of the points race at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and the 1986 world championships in Colorado Springs, Frost joined the then-CSC’s team staff ahead of the 2006 season with a special responsibility for the development of young riders.
The 52-year-old Frost will formally join Sky from January, but he was already present at the team’s first training camp in Mallorca last week, where they discussed plans for the forthcoming season.
“I’m excited to get started in January. Whether you are a Sports Director or a rider you always want to get going with the racing,” Frost told the team website.
“The detail and preparation of the team is evident and everyone has been extremely welcoming. It is nice to be received with open arms and hopefully together we can achieve lots of success.”
Sky performance manager Rod Ellingworth hailed the arrival of Frost and believes that his track background makes him a good fit for Team Sky given its links to the British track programme.
“We welcome his insight and everything he’s learned over the last eight years as a Sports Director. He was a phenomenal track rider back in his day and that means he’s also close to the methodology from British Cycling,” Ellingworth said. “We’re all keen to get started.”
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The team also announced the departure of directeur sportif Marcus Ljungqvist, who had been with Sky since the team was established in 2010. The Swede, who raced at CSC while Frost was a directeur sportif, said that he wanted to spend more time with his family.
“After almost 20 years on the road, hopefully I can now spend more time at home with my family. That is my main aim at the moment,” Ljungqvist said.
“I will miss working with the team and I’m leaving such a great group of people. Becoming a Sports Director and joining Team Sky was a big challenge. But having the chance to be there from the very beginning, and then for the team to go on and be successful and win the Tour de France twice, is something I will take with me.”
Ljungqvist in the second member of Sky’s pool of directeurs sportifs to leave the team during the off-season. Two weeks ago, it was announced that Dan Hunt had swapped cycling for football, joining the English Premier League to oversee its youth development system as head of elite performance.
Last winter, Sean Yates retired and Shane Sutton switched from Sky’s head coach to a consultancy role, while Bobby Julich and Steven de Jongh left the team as part of its zero tolerance policy after confessing to doping during their racing careers.
