Matt White joins Movistar in first role since shock Jayco dismissal

Matt White has joined the management team at Movistar, where he will head the team’s Race Department alongside longstanding directeur sportif Chente García Acosta.

The Movistar role marks White’s return to the WorldTour after he was surprisingly dismissed from his role at Jayco-Alula in May. The Australian had been a key figure at GreenEdge since the foundation of the team in 2012, guiding Simon Yates to overall victory at the 2018 Vuelta a España.

“After more than 15 years as sports director, I’m starting a very exciting new chapter, eager to contribute my experience and help the team succeed,” White said in a statement released by Movistar on Wednesday.

“I’ve always had a deep respect for Movistar Team, and being able to be a part of it from within is incredibly motivating.”

The arrival of White is part of an overhaul of the management structure at Movistar, who recently made the surprise signing of Cian Uijtdebroeks from Visma | Lease a Bike. Previously manager of the women’s team, Sebastian Unzué is now Head of Sports, overseeing performance, health, and racing departments, as well as a department composed of rider representatives from Movistar’s teams.

In an interview with Daniel Benson's Substack on Wednesday, White explained that he began his role with Movistar last week at their first gathering of the off-season. 

“It’s what I’ve been expecting, with a really good group of people welcoming me into the team, and I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “It’s an exciting challenge and a new chapter for me.

“Cycling is a small sport, and at the end of the day, you can’t hide from who you are, and all I’ve heard from people in and out of the team are great things about the staff, the roster and the way that they treat people. 

“That’s the type of organisation that I wanted to work in, and also they’ve said they wanted to make some changes in the team, whilst keeping their DNA, and they see me as part of that.”

White declined to delve into the details of his surprising departure from Jayco-Alula. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Gerry [Ryan] and everything he’s done for Australian cycling for the last couple of decades, but the team thought it was time for a change, and change they got,” he said.