The turnover of key support roles in the Australian Cycling Team continues, as Gene Bates, who has been Bike Exchange-Jayco's sport director for nearly a decade, and Scott Gardner, a sports scientist, share head coaching duties, It was announced Monday that they will be pulled back to the National Cycling Organization.

Gardner, who has coached athletes such as Ana Meares, Shane Kelly, Sam Willoughby, Chris Hoy, Jason Kenney, and Victoria Pendleton, will be responsible for BMX, BMX freestyle, and track sprinting, Acceleration & Action. He will be the head coach. Bates will become head coach of the Endurance division, overseeing road, mountain bike, and track endurance.

"For a long time I have considered returning to work with Australian athletes. A new era in cycling is upon us and I am very excited to be a part of it."

There have been enough changes within the organization over the past few years, sometimes controversial. Simon Jones, appointed head of performance with a mandate to turn around the decline in medals after the Rio Olympics, not only made changes soon after his arrival in 2017, but also implemented a restructuring in 2020 that saw the dismissal of seven staff members.

Jones also left after the Tokyo Olympics, where cycling's medal haul only grew because Logan Martin won gold in the newly introduced event, BMX Freestyle. Jones was replaced earlier this year by Jesse Korff, who was appointed executive general manager (performance). Korff had been appointed performance director from AusCycling's performance pathway director to performance director upon Jones' departure.

In addition, the track endurance coach position had been vacant since Tim Decker announced plans to retire earlier this year after 11 years of service to take an equivalent position in China.

The appointments were not limited to Bates and Gardner. Donna Rae-Zalinski, who has extensive experience with national and professional cycling teams as well as state agencies, has been named Director of Pathways, assuming the role she had held on an interim basis. This position includes overseeing opportunities for riders under 19 and 23 to compete domestically and internationally after international and domestic travel was significantly restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its role also includes talent identification and development of athletes and coaches.

Paul Collins, an associate professor of design and product development at Deakin University, will take on a new role in the organization as director of engineering excellence, a new functional area in which he will be responsible for activities and roles involving equipment and data, according to AusCycling. He will lead a new functional area that will be responsible for activities and roles related to equipment and data.

The position was created after a handlebar broke from its mounting at the Tokyo Olympics, causing Australian Team Pursuit athlete Alex Porter to crash onto the course. An investigation was subsequently conducted and the report concluded that the primary cause of the breakdown was improper specification and recommended that someone qualified and experienced in this area be hired.