Allan Peiper will ‘step back’ from UAE Team Emirates
Allan Peiper will 'step back' from UAE Team Emirates
UAE Team Emirates announced on Monday that Allan Peiper will “step back” from his duties with the team to instead “turn his focus on his ongoing health battles.” Peiper has battled multiple forms of cancer for several years.
Peiper has spent the past three years as a sport director with UAE. Although he retired from that position after Paris-Roubaix, he had planned to move into an advisory role in the coming season. Instead, the 61-year-old Australian will be putting his focus elsewhere in 2022.
“The treatment for cancer which I have undergone in the last six years have taken a huge toll on me mentally and physically. So much so that I don’t feel at this time that I can do the job like I want,” Peiper said in a statement.
“The last three years with UAE Team Emirates have been a wonderful experience. The team took me in knowing I had been sick and yet offered me every opportunity, immense support and understanding for which I am utterly grateful.”
After a pro racing career of his own in which he racked up results that included a stage win at the Giro d’Italia, Peiper moved into the management side of the sport as a DS with Davitamon Lotto in 2005. He went on to spend time with the T-Mobile, Garmin-Sharp, and BMC teams before joining UAE at the start of 2019. His arrival coincided with that of an up-and-coming Tadej Pogačar, and Peiper would play a role in the young Slovenian’s ascent to the highest echelons of professional cycling.
In a statement, UAE team principal and CEO Mauro Gianetti said that “the door is open” for Peiper to return.
“Though he is stepping back, Allan will always be a member of our team,” Gianetti said. “In these three years we have all learned a lot from him. His professionalism, commitment and knowledge have been invaluable to the team and we are all very grateful and thankful for what he has done.
“We wish him the very best and are all supporting him in his latest fight, that we know he will tackle with the same drive and determination as he always does. Allan’s place in the team will remain for good, and the door is open to him as soon as his health improves.”
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