Dutchman moves to Riis’ team after recent doping confession
A little over two months after he left his post with Team Sky, Steven de Jongh has been given a similar directeur sportif role with Team Saxo Tinkoff. The 39 year old Dutchman will take up the position immediately, and becomes the sixth sporting director with the team.
“After I left Team Sky, I simply didn’t know what the future would hold for me,” he said in a team announcement. “But in early January I had some conversations with Bjarne and the team, and this developed into a job offer and a fantastic opportunity for me personally. I’m really looking forward to start this new chapter of my career as a sport director, and I’m grateful for the confidence the team has shown me.”
He joins previously-signed directeurs sportifs Philippe Mauduit, Dan Frost, Tristan Hoffman, Fabrizio Guidi and Lars Michaelsen.
De Jongh competed as a professional between 1995 and 2009, riding with the TVM, Rabobank and Quick Step Innergetic teams. He won races such as the Postgirot Open, the Mijl van Mares, the Henk Vos Memorial, Veenendaal-Veenendaal and the Nationale Sluitingsprijs.
He worked with Team Sky for three years but lost his position under its zero tolerance policy. In October he conceded to team management that he had used doping products at times during his career and subsequently admitted that publicly.
He has now been given a second chance by Bjarne Riis, who himself admitted using banned products in his own career.
“In order to complete our sport director line up we have been looking for a sixth sport director for quite some time now,” said Riis. “Recently I got in touch with Steven, and throughout our conversations I felt he would be a great fit for us.
“On top of that I have heard a lot of good things about him as a sport director, and he brings a solid amount of experience to our team. So I’m happy to welcome Steven onboard and to start working with him.”
It is not yet clear which will be De Jongh’s first race in that role.