{"id":285819,"date":"2025-11-27T08:50:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T08:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/285819\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T08:50:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T08:50:09","slug":"the-right-moment-to-come-back-a-return-to-jayco-alula-for-sports-director-neil-stephens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/285819\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The right moment to come back’ – A return to Jayco AlUla for sports director Neil Stephens"},"content":{"rendered":"

After seven years away, Neil Stephens will be returning to WorldTour team Jayco AlUla<\/a>, where he was one of the early players who helped shape the Australian squad when it launched in 2012.<\/p>\n

Since Stephens left at the end of 2017, the 62-year-old has worked as a sports director at UAE Team Emirates and, most recently, Bahrain Victorious.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to come back to the team after seven years away, a team that I helped create many years ago, it\u2019s exciting,” said Stephens in a media release announcing his appointment as a sports director from 2026.<\/p>\n

Best picks for you<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m really looking forward to it and it just feels like a natural fit. I\u2019m happy to be joining up with great colleagues that I\u2019ve worked with before, some new people and getting back into that unique way of working at GreenEDGE Cycling.”<\/p>\n

There have been a number of changes across the organisation in the past season, from the sudden surprise departure of pivotal figure Matt White in May to the return of another early player, Gene Bates. He came back at the start of the season as Team Manager and Lead Sport Director of the Liv AlUla Jayco Women’s WorldTour team before the appointment to the role of Sporting Manager for 2026. Now Stephens adds another returnee.<\/p>\n

“He brings with him a wealth of experience from his years of working at the top level of the sport that will complement the established team of sport directors at Team Jayco AlUla,” said new lead sport director Bates. “I look forward to working with him again as we aim to open a new chapter with the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bates outlined in an interview with Cyclingnews<\/a> earlier this month that the men’s WorldTour team would be embracing a strategy that aimed to deliver a balance of chasing UCI points while also targeting major victories.<\/p>\n

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

“I have always felt it would be a nice idea to return to GreenEDGE at some point. Once the conversations started with Brent [Copeland \u2013 General Manager] and Gerry [Ryan \u2013 Team Owner], it seemed like the right moment to come back, and things quickly fit into place,” said Stephens.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m thankful to the teams I\u2019ve been with, I\u2019ve had some great experiences, and it\u2019s helped to shape me in my professional career. I\u2019m looking forward to bringing my experiences back to the team as we fight for some major wins over the years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After seven years away, Neil Stephens will be returning to WorldTour team Jayco AlUla, where he was one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-285819","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}