Bahrain Victorious have appointed Rolf Aldag as a directeur sportif for the 2021 season, just a day after the German announced he was leaving Women's WorldTour team Canyon-SRAM.
Aldag joins a DS team that includes Franco Pellizotti, Xavier Florencio, Tim Harris and Gorazd Štangelj at the Bahraini squad, which also welcomed Neil Stephens on board towards the end of the 2020 season.
He was part of the pro peloton from 1990 to 2005, racing for Helvetia and Team Telekom, winning the German road title in 2000. He moved to the director's car the season after retiring, working for the T-Mobile/HTC-Highroad squad and later Omega Pharma-QuickStep and Dimension Data before joining Canyon-SRAM last year.
"The Team showed a lot of fighting spirit and raced in a very structured way, during the complicated 2020 season," Aldag said in a team press release.
"That was very attractive to me and raised my attention. When the opportunity came to be part of this team, I didn't hesitate. Now I am looking forward to contributing to the future success. I'm happy to join the team because it offers a lot of opportunities and riders with big potential.
"I'm looking forward to helping develop the riders and contribute to the team's success. Team Bahrain Victorious is a team that managed to make positive structural changes during a challenging 2020 season. Therefore, I am happy to get the chance to join the team to help build future success."
Thee 52-year-old will work with a strong stage racing team at Bahrain Victorious, including Mikel Landa, Pello Bilbao, Wout Poels and new signing for 2021, Jack Haig.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"We are delighted to secure Rolf as a Sports Director for the team," said a team spokesperson. "He brings great experience leading races and development projects. Rolf also has a great eye for scouting and discovering young talent along with experience in developing the team's technical department, which is proven through his previous roles."
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
