Juan Manuel Garate has joined Cannondale Pro Cycling in his new role as sport director. He has replaced Robbie Hunter, who left the team to become a full-time rider agent. The former pro rider who has a 17-year professional career, started his new season at the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal where his sprinter Wouter Wippert finished fourth.

"I’m very motivated, and very excited about this perspective that cycling is offering me. I have a lot of experience as a racer; now it’s a new challenge to pass along what I know to a new generation of riders", he told Velonews. "Cannondale is a team that’s undergoing a big change, and they’re focused on working on young riders for the future. You have to be patient with younger riders, always working with them in a professional way, and the results will come."

"As a rider, I always liked to read and study the race book, and work inside the peloton once the race started," Garate added. "Let’s see if I can do that from behind the steering wheel. Inside the sport director’s car, you see things from a different perspective than you do as a rider. You have to have a feel for the race, and make the best possible decision about the tactics."

In 2016, Garate will take care of the Spanish calendar, including the Vuelta a Espana and Volta a Catalunya. He will be present also at the Amgen Tour of California and the Tour de Suisse. "The team promises to be very competitive this year. These are all races where we can do some serious things. They’re not going to take me to the classics, because that was never my specialty. Instead, we will work with the stage races, with the young riders, and count on my experience to build some solid results."

Juan Manuel Gárate was a climbing specialist and his greatest achievements were in the Giro d'Italia, where he placed fourth overall in 2002, tenth overall in the 2004, fifth overall in 2005 and he won the Mountains classification with a seventh overall in 2006. He also won the Spanish National Championship road race in 2005 and won stages in the Tour de Suisse, the Vuelta a España, the Giro del Trentino. Most recently he finished first on Mont Ventoux in the penultimate stage of the 2009 Tour de France.