Dan Hunt joins Team Sky as directeur sportif
Dan Hunt, who coached Great Britain’s men’s team pursuit squad to gold at London 2012, has joined Team Sky as directeur sportif.
Dan Hunt guided Great Britain’s men’s team pursuit gold in London
Hunt previously worked with Team Sky as a race coach during the squad’s inaugural season but left to concentrate on his role as coach of the men’s track endurance squad at British Cycling.
Under Hunt’s tutelage, Geraint Thomas, Peter Kennaugh, Ed Clancy and Steven Burke went on to break their own world record to claim gold in London – but now Hunt is relishing the prospect of returning to road racing.
“It’s a great time to bow out and start a new challenge and I’m really excited about the project,” said Hunt. ”I want 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. I need to expose myself to as much racing as possible to maximise my learning over the first year. I want to be good at this. I want to be a good DS and it’s going to take time to get there.”
Hunt worked closely with Team Sky during his time at British Cycling, with the two organisations sharing the same offices at the Manchester Velodrome and the same boss in Dave Brailsford, while both Thomas and Kennaugh also ride for the WorldTour outfit.
Unusually for a directeur sportif, Hunt has not raced professionally, but he believes his sports science background and wealth of coaching experience will stand him in good stead.
“I think you have to look outside of your own world,” he added. “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.”
