Cycling Australia announced Thursday that the Australian Cycling Team (made up of athletes and coaching staff representing Australia and elite riders competing in international competitions) will undergo an "operational reorganization" ahead of the rescheduled Olympics.

According to the press release, the review was to take place after the scheduled 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but the reorganization was hastened when the Games were postponed until next summer.

"The review has been brought forward to ensure a smooth transition to the new operation ahead of the rescheduling of the Games scheduled for 2021 and the shortening of the performance cycle to Paris 2024," a press release from Cycling Australia states.

In addition, the new performance cycle is expected to be completed in the next few months.

It continued that the restructuring "does not represent a change in strategy, but rather an improvement on the way the strategy is currently delivered."

It did not specify which roles would be restructured, but said that the primary focus would be on the track and paracycling programs.

Duties will be restructured, resulting in seven staff members leaving the team and four additional staff members taking on refocused roles. The team will hire a number of new positions, including a coaching director and a performance pathways director."

Simon Jones, performance director of the Australian cycling team, said that with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games postponed until 2021 and the coronavirus outbreak disrupting normal training activities, "Now, completion of the review and implementation of this reorganization is in the best interest of the program as a whole."

Jones continued: "The post-Tokyo 2021 period has a condensed competition phase that includes the 2021 Road and Track World Championships, Paralympic and Olympic Nationals/World Cup, with the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games immediately following is coming up.

." We are confident that these changes will increase the likelihood of success in 2021 with a more focused and strategically aligned team." At the same time, we will closely examine our pathway strategy in the coming months to ensure that we have a surplus of talent to create upward pressure on our pathways to meet cycling's 2024 and 2028 medal potential.

Cycling Australia CEO Steve Drake said: "We are very conscious of the timing of these decisions, but with the postponement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, these changes need to be made now and in the athletes and wider performance team is in the best interest of the athletes and the wider performance team."

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Cycling News has reached out to Cycling Australia for further comment on which staff members will be retiring.