'It feels like coming full circle' – Australian DS Matt White rejoins EF Education-EasyPost 16 years after departing

Australian directeur sportif Matt White has joined EF Education-EasyPost, the US team have announced.

White, who hung up his wheels as a racer in 2007, began his directing career at the team, staying there for three years before being dismissed over a breach of policy. He then completed a long stint at Jayco-AlUla.

He unexpectedly left the Australian team in May 2025 before joining Movistar later in the year. Now, he's on the move again, heading back to EF for 2027.

"It feels like coming full circle. I started my career as a sports director here back in 2008," said White.

"I've obviously spent a lot of time away, but it's a team that I've always kept very close to my heart. It's exciting to come back to a team that has so many talented young riders and a lot of ambition to develop this group over a long period of time."

White, who will join an EF DS team that includes Charly Wegelius, Ken Vanmarcke and Tom Southam, said he's excited by the team's attacking ethos and added that he's looking forward to working with the young riders at the team.

"I think the beauty of going for stages is that it's all or nothing. You're all in for the day, then you might have a day or two when you're not, and then you're all in again. Especially in a Grand Tour, I think that's a really exciting mindset and way to approach a race," he said.

"The most exciting thing about this group is that it's such a young, talented team. You just don't know what these athletes are capable of on any given day.

"Nurturing those guys and getting the best out of them, both as individuals and as a group, is an exciting challenge for me. Working with riders who don't yet know where their ceiling is, and helping them discover what they're capable of, is something that gets me up in the morning."

EF will look different on the racing side next season, too, after leader Richard Carapaz broke his contract to join NSN. Several other key riders, including Danes Michael Valgreen and Kasper Asgreen, are also departing.

Ben Healy and Neilson Powless will lead the team next season, while Iván Sosa, Tao Geoghegan Hart, and Lorenzo Milesi are among six confirmed additions.

White said that success for him and EF next year will be measured by featuring throughout the season and getting results at the biggest races of the calendar.

"My passion is getting the most out of people. Cycling has changed a lot, but there's one thing that hasn't changed: you're dealing with human beings," he said.

"Getting the most out of people is something I really enjoy. I think if, in 12 months' time, we can sit back and look at the season and see that we've featured prominently throughout the year, especially at the pointy end of the races that matter, then that's a measure of success. And those races are the three Grand Tours and a lot of the Monuments."

White rode as a professional between 1996 and 2007 before joining what is now EF, and was then Garmin-Chipotle, for his first directing role in 2008. That stint with the team lasted only three seasons, before he was dismissed for breaching team policies by referring a rider to an outside doctor without reference to the team's own medical staff.

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