Rory Sutherland to leave AusCycling elite road co-ordinator role after reshuffle

A bronze in the mixed relay at the Wollongong Road World Championships 2022, one of four medals that Australia won at the event which we now know was one of Rory Sutherland's last as Elite Road Co-ordinator (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

AusCycling is continuing to restructure its high-performance unit, earlier this year putting Gene Bates and Scott Gardner into two distinct head coach roles, and now they have said the changes mean there is no longer a need for Rory Sutherland's position – Elite Road Co-ordinator.

The former professional cyclist was appointed to the European-based role at the end of 2020 by Simon Jones, then the Australian team's performance director, but since then the landscape within the organisation has shifted considerably, with Jones having left, AusCycling formed as part of a coming together of multiple cycling disciplines, and Executive General Manager Performance, Jesse Korf, overseeing a restructure which included the appointment of Bates and Gardner.

“We made a significant strategic shift when we re-organised what were several siloed sports into Endurance, and Acceleration and Action,” Korf, said in a statement.

“We want to enable athletes to move between endurance sports if they choose to, help them win a pro contract if possible, and then invite them to compete in the biggest races on the planet in the green and gold. The integration of para and able endurance athletes is also a major priority.”

The splitting of head coach duties between former BikeExchange-Jayco sports director Bates – overseeing road, mountain bike and track endurance – and sports scientist Gardner – looking after BMX, BMX Freestyle and Track Sprint – was the first step in a restructure which will also see two sports director positions added for the men's and women's team along with a role of European co-ordinator.

“Rory has been an important part of our success for some time,” Korf said. “He has overseen great results at some pinnacle events including World Championships and the Commonwealth Games and he has played a pivotal role in the evolution of our culture, which has been a focus in the past year.

“Rory leaves us after helping to secure four medals at the recent UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong and that’s a fitting exclamation point on what has been an impressive stint in our system.”

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Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.