Mike Sayers during the 2007 Tour de Nez.(Image credit: Larry Rosa Photography/larryrosa.com)
Jim Miller and Mike Sayers run the show(Image credit: USA Cycling)
Mike Sayers describes a transfer schedule to Ian Sherburne. The DS takes on many more responsibilities other than just guiding racers. Here, Sayers is trying to find a solution for moving the large team bus to a more efficient departure time.(Image credit: Wil Matthews)
Mike Sayers joins BMC after helping to build the Health Net team.(Image credit: Mark Adkison/hcphoto.smugmug.com)
Cole House (right) chats with former-pro-turned BMC sports director Mike Sayers(Image credit: Wil Matthews)
Cadel will attack here: BMC directeurs sportif Mike Sayers and John Lelangue make some notes in the race hand book.(Image credit: Richard Tyler)
Jim Ochowicz and Mike Sayers converse before the start of the stage. The night before, Ochowicz released a statement calling Floyd Landis’ allegations "disappointing" and "absolutely unfounded."(Image credit: Wil Matthews)
Mike Sayers has been with the BMC Racing Team since its inception in 2007, when he joined as a rider on the US Continental squad, and as a directeur sportif since 2009 after retiring from the peloton, but he is set to leave at the end of this season just as the team has reached the pinnacle of its success in the WorldTour.
Four years of spending the majority of the year away from his young son Brody and his wife Nicole has worn on the Sacramento, California resident, and the team was not willing to give him more time stateside.
"It was not my first choice to leave, but that's how it worked out," Sayers told Cyclingnews. He has one more race to direct before stepping away from the team.
"It is difficult to make this choice, but cycling is cycling. I'm not going to decide against my son. My wife and I have been discussing this for the past six months, trying to figure out how to make it work, so it isn't a snap decision. We decided that if the team wasn't going to give me more days at home, I would stop.
"My wife is in banking and has a successful career, and we decided we wouldn't give up her career to move our family to Europe. You have to be full time over there, and the past four years I've been averaging 60 days per year with my family. I just don't think it's appropriate anymore."
"I think I've been good at getting projects off the ground. I was part of building the Mercury team, we had the aim of growing from a Continental team to the ProTour, but that didn't work, and then with BMC. I've seen both sides. The work with BMC has been very rewarding, the riders and staff there are like family, they really are.
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"Jackson Stewart and I were the first established professionals that Gavin Chilcott hired in 2007, to help start the team. That's the most difficult part of letting it go.
"I'm pretty sure someone in cycling will give me an opportunity in the future. I have a lot more experience now then when I retired as a professional cyclist. I have more language skills and operational skills, so I'm a little more relaxed now [about the future]."
In addition to looking forward to more time with his family, Sayers is also keen to reconnect with one of his other loves - his bicycle.
"I became a professional cyclist because I loved riding, so I'm looking forward to getting back on my bike a little as well as touching base with all the friends who I haven't had time for over the past four years."
He also hopes to stay connected with USA Cycling, after directing the men's elite teams for the 2012 Olympic Games and UCI Road World Championships.
"Those races were definitely the highlight of my career," Sayers said. "We have a really good group of young guys who are on the cusp of something really good. With a little more work and more maturity, they can be very good in Richmond in 2015. I'm pretty excited about the group we have coming through USA Cycling right now, and would like to stay involved with them in some fashion."
Laura Weislo is a Cyclingnews veteran of 20 years. Having joined in 2006, Laura extensively covered the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, the years-long conflict between the UCI and the Tour de France organisers ASO over the creation of the WorldTour, and the downfall of Lance Armstrong and his lifetime ban for doping. As Managing Editor, Laura coordinates coverage for North American events and global news.
