With a career that spans more than 20 years in professional cycling, Portugal’s José Azevedo has stepped up to the position of general manager for Team KATUSHA ALPECIN professional cycling team in 2017. It’s a big step for the calm, thoughtful Azevedo, but one the trajectory of his career seemed destined for.

“This is a new step for me this year and wasn’t something I expected. My dream when I finished my cycling career was to be a sports director and I’ve done this work for the last 7 years. It was a passion for me to stay involved and maintain contact with the riders and create a good ambience in the races and in the car,” said Azevedo of his recent role as sports director.

After the Tour de France in July 2016, GM Viacheslav ‘Eki’ Ekimov told the management board for Team KATUSHA that he wished to step down. The board turned to Azevedo as a potential replacement for the upcoming season.

“The board called me to have a meeting. After three years in the team I expected that we were going to talk about the team for next year, our goals, etc. But the board proposed to me this new job, with more responsibility and to continue the good work as KATUSHA ALPECIN to be one of the best teams in the world.  It was a big surprise to me. I asked for a few days to talk to my family and to think about this opportunity,” explained Azevedo. Married with two children, he needed time to think about the career challenges that come with the role of general manager. 

“I also wanted to be sure that for some races I could still be in the car as a director. I need to maintain my close contact with the riders for three reasons: first it is a passion for me; also I don’t want to lose the good feeling that come from doing the job of a sports director and lastly, I need contact with the riders to know what is going on with them,” said Azevedo.

His demeanor is calm and collected; he’s thoughtful before he speaks, strong qualities that go far with a large team of riders and staff that look to him for guidance and reassurance.

“Just because I’m the general manager of the team now doesn’t mean I’m going to change my personality or character. We are all important. The difference is we each have different jobs and responsibilities. I try to be organized, responsible and show commitment, along with the passion I feel for this job. Those have always been important things to me in any job. Perhaps the board saw these as good qualities; I do not know. I do my best and try to be honest with everybody. I’m 100% focused on this job,” he said. 

With a new sponsor and new season come new signings and Azevedo is enthusiastic about the 10 riders joining the roster for 2017:

“I’m excited about all of our new signings. We have different goals for each of them. Of course when we sign a rider like Tony Martin who is 4-time world champion, with all the races he has won on his palmares, and is one of the best riders in the world, we are excited that he comes to our team. We have goals for Tony and he knows we believe in him. Last season was not his very best but we know he has much more to give. I think a change of team for him will be very motivating,” said Azevedo.

While team rider Alexander Kristoff has produced top results with 33-wins in the last two years alone, new signings bring experience and dedication to help him see additional victories, as well as set up possibilities for themselves in the future.

“A rider like Baptiste Planckaert is a sprinter and a fast rider. He will have his race calendar and in many races he will be our sprinter so we are hoping he can give us good results. Last year he was in the top 10 thirty-six times and won the UCI Europe Tour.

“Rick Zabel is a young rider who I think can be a very good sprinter in the future.  He’s going to ride for Planckaert but he will also be in the group of Alexander Kristoff and it’s good for him to be in these groups to learn so in the future he can improve on his own results,” explained Azevedo.    

After a successful 2016 with stage wins in both the Tour de France and Paris-Nice, Ilnur Zakarin continues to show improvement and promise as a grand tour rider. To bolster his position, a new rider with plenty of experience comes to the team.

“Robert Kišerlovski will be in the group in support of Ilnur Zakarin on the big tours. I know and have worked with Robert before so I know he’s an honest rider and a big professional. It is important to have a good rider like this with Zak.” 

Another new signing is Dutch rider Maurits Lammertink: “He is a young rider and I see his big years coming. This year he won the Tour of Luxembourg but later he had a big crash in Tour de Suisse and he had to stop riding so he lost ground in the second part of the year. Now he starts fresh again and I think he can be a good rider in stage races. We will start him in the one-week races and then see how things go. He has big potential,” promises Azevedo.

Other young riders come on board in Jenthe Biermans, Mads Würtz Schmidt and Marco Mathis: “Mathis is a world champion in the time trial but in general we cannot expect big results at this higher level of racing for these young guys. The goal for these guys is to work to improve and give them time to grow.  If the results come for them naturally because of their big talent, we will welcome that of course – it would be nice for them, but it is not a goal. We will have patience with our younger riders as we expect them to have long careers ahead of them,” predicted José Azevedo. 

Rounding out the list of new riders are Reto Hollenstein and José Gonçalves: “Reto is a rider with a lot of experience in the big races, in the classics. I think he will also be very good in support of Alexander. And José is an all-arounder that we expect to perform well on many levels. I like what I see from these guys,” concluded Azevedo.

The role of the general manager comes with new duties and responsibilities for Azevedo but he recognizes an important role he plays in the team’s overall success – that of motivator and head cheerleader.

“I know there will be times when it is especially important for me to be with the team. When the team is winning, they don’t need me; everyone is happy. But when we lose, this is the time I need to be present to show the general manager’s support of the team. I expect everyone to be honest, act professional and give their maximum. When people display this attitude, I promise I will be 100% behind them. I will trust them to do their jobs and we will be fighting to win races,” said Azevedo.