Tim Kerrison, head coach at Ineos Grenadiers, will step down at the end of the year as the British WorldTour team embark on a round of managerial changes throughout the off-season.
The Australian has been a permanent feature at the team since their Team Sky days and coached Tour de France winners Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas throughout the best years of their careers.
Kerrison, who came to cycling via swimming, has not specified his next role or position.
"After 12 years at the Team, with countless memorable experiences, now is the time for me to move on to new challenges. I am so grateful for the opportunities that Dave, the Team and the sport have given me. I was welcomed to cycling as an outsider 12 years ago and have been fortunate to work with some of the best riders and staff in the game. Together we have been on an incredible journey - more challenging and more fulfilling than I could ever have imagined. I leave with many fond memories and lifelong friends and wish the team every success for the future, as I look ahead to the next challenge," Kerrison said in a statement sent to Cyclingnews.
News of Kerrison's departure from Ineos was circulated among team staff via an internal message initially seen by Cyclingnews.
"After a decade with us Tim Kerrison will be leaving at the end of this year. It has not been an easy decision for either of us but we both accept it is the right time – personally for Tim and collectively for the Team," the message read.
"Tim has played a key role in our success in his time with us and leaves with our very best wishes for the future. Whatever he chooses to do next I have no doubt he will excel, as he has done in everything in his career so far.
"This inevitably marks the end of an incredible chapter, given Tim has led the coaching side of the Team for so long. However, it also gives us the chance to start an exciting new one: building on what has worked well, changing and adapting in some areas and enabling us to bring in new people and new thinking as we restructure the senior management team."
The news of Kerrison’s departure is likely to be the start of a programme of changes at the team, who missed out on Tour de France victory for the second year running this July.
Despite a hugely successful start to the campaign, which included Egan Bernal’s Giro d’Italia win in May, the team's campaign tailed off during the second half of the year. They won just seven races from the end of June onwards, with two of those at the British National Championships and five coming from Ethan Hayter. The team finished 2021 with 34 victories for the season.
For several months there has been speculation that the team would go through a management restructure and those rumours remain, despite the team playing down the claims. It is still expected, however, that team boss Dave Brailsford will move into a more central role at Ineos Sport, while he will still have oversight of the cycling operation as he bases himself in Nice.
That space would mean that Rod Ellingworth, who returned to the team last year after a short stint at Bahrain Victorious, would take on more responsibility. Ellingworth currently holds the position of Director of Racing.
