For more than one decade, Matt White played a pivotal role in the story of Jayco AlUla. That was until early May of this year when his job at the team was terminated. Although a replacement for his leading role has not been publicly communicated by the Australian team yet, the 51-year-old has already moved on and found a new opportunity with Spanish team Movistar for 2026.”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.”
As the only native English-speaker in the team, White will have to speedrun through the Duolingo courses of new language to fit in the Spanish-oriented structure as soon as possible. But even though the language barrier will be an obstacle in first months, White already feels very welcome in Movistar:
“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 told Daniel Benson in an interview. “It’s an exciting challenge and a new chapter for me.”
The decision to join Movistar seems rather unusual, but White explains that the things he had heard about the team prior to signing convinced him in that this is the right career path to take.
“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.”
Matt White will become the tactical mind behind Movistar’s future endeavors
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.