Team Sky has hired American Bobby Julich as a coach for the 2011 season. Julich moves over from the Saxo Bank team, where he has held a management position since retiring from the sport in 2008. This year, he also worked with Andy Schleck to improve the Luxemburger's time trial skills.
Julich joins Team Sky's race coach Rod Ellingworth for a full coaching position, starting this winter. "Bobby is going to work alongside myself and help develop the coaching role at Team Sky," Ellingworth says. 'We have a long-term view and a coaching structure that we are aiming to work towards."
Ellingworth trusts the experienced Julich to deliver a job with the same amount of dedication that he showed as a rider. "Bobby is the first new person to be taken on with that in mind. The role is very much to be a one-on-one coach with a few of our key riders."
Drawing from his own experiences as a professional cyclist in Europe for 14 years, Julich will be invaluable for the top guys on Team Sky. "Race coaching is everything to do with the athletes' lives," Ellingworth says. "It involves so much; planning, supporting the riders whenever they need it - whether it's time trialing, positional or tactical work - basically whatever is needed to help them in every area. It could even be getting them back on track after an illness."
Julich's position asks for great responsibilities, as he will be the key person to talk to for the athletes. "[He is] the day-to-day contact for that bike rider - so if they need anything they come through the coach first and then the coach delves into all the support staff around them to make sure it happens, rather than the athlete having to go and speak to 10 or 15 different people," Ellingworth explains.
The Sky team has a hierarchical structure, with the riders on top, then the coaches and then the rest - logistics, operations, sport science and others. "There's a line of communication and we really want to work on that area and Bobby will be part of that. That's my idea in terms of the coaching planning and Bobby is the first one to come in to help me deliver it.
Ellingworth admits that Julich's job will be quite different from what he did at Saxo Bank. "Bobby has never worked in this style before, so that's going to be his challenge, but he's completely up for that and is really looking forward to it. He's come here and had a good look around and can see that it works.
Ellingworth knows the learning curve exists on both sides. "We obviously also want to make sure that he has his input. He's got some great experience - and we want to learn from that - so he'll be a good member of the team."
Julich himself was quite happy to get started in his new role. "I am extremely excited to be joining Team Sky," the Nevada resident says. "I have been in the same system for seven years and look forward to learning a new one and meeting new people." Julich joined CSC (which later became Saxo Bank) in 2004 and stayed with them for five years as a rider. In 2009 and 2010 he was part of the management team.
Now he is moving on with his after-sports life. "I think I will fit in perfectly with this team and hope that my experience will help this team progress and reach its goals for the future."
The 38-year-old made his breakthrough as a rider with a ninth place in the 1996 Vuelta a España, during which he held the King of the Mountains jersey for ten days. He went on to take third place in the 1998 Tour de France. His best season as a pro came in 2005 when, becoming the first American to win Paris-Nice. He notched overall victories at the Critérium International and the Eneco Tour that same year.
Julich is especially good in the time trial discipline, claiming the bronze medal in the race against the clock at the 2004 Olympic Games. Julich worked closely with Andy Schleck at Saxo Bank in 2010 on his time-trialing, playing a key role in the Luxemburger's much-improved display on the penultimate stage of this year's Tour de France.