Movistar Team set for major staff overhaul as four key figures prepare to leave ahead of 2027
Cycling
Movistar Team is preparing another significant restructuring of its technical staff ahead of the 2027 season, with four departures expected to reshape both its sporting management and performance departments. Sports directors Max Sciandri and Matthew White, along with performance specialists Xabier Muriel and Leonardo Piepoli, are all set to leave the Spanish WorldTour team
The changes represent another major adjustment for the Spanish organization as it reviews how its different departments operate. The overhaul will affect the personnel responsible for riders' physical preparation and performance development.
White's departure comes after just one season with Movistar. The Australian joined the team for 2026 following his exit from Jayco-AlUla in the middle of 2025, making his spell with the Spanish squad relatively short.
Sciandri, by contrast, has been part of Movistar since 2019, having arrived from BMC. The British sports director became an established member of the team's management structure and played a particularly important role in planning its Italian racing calendar, with the Giro d'Italia among his principal responsibilities.
Their exits will leave Movistar needing to redistribute responsibilities across its sporting department and determine who will oversee the team's race programme in 2027. The departures of Muriel and Piepoli will create additional vacancies in the performance division, extending the changes beyond competitive planning.
Iván Romeo won the overall of Vuelta a Andalucía 2026
Performance department also faces significant changes
Muriel joined the organization in 2023 after working at Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, where he had served as a sports director and coach during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. His responsibilities at Movistar expanded following the departure of Patxi Vila, who left the team in 2024 to join Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe.
The Basque specialist subsequently took on a prominent role within Movistar's performance department, coordinating the team's coaches and occasionally working as a sports director himself. According to Diario de Navarra, his next professional move is expected to take him into university teaching.
His departure will leave a gap in a department where he shared responsibilities with Iván Velasco. Velasco's work has focused more heavily on areas such as time-trial preparation, biomechanics and the application of technology to cycling performance.
Piepoli is also set to leave after joining Movistar in 2024. The Italian has a long history with the organization, having raced for its predecessor structure during the Banesto era before moving into coaching and rider preparation after retiring from professional competition.
His career was also marked by a two-year suspension for EPO use during his time at Saunier Duval. He later returned to work in cycling as a performance coach before joining Movistar.
The departures of Muriel and Piepoli mean the team will have to reconsider how its performance responsibilities are divided, including how coaches coordinate physical preparation and support riders throughout the season. Movistar has yet to establish publicly who will replace the departing staff members or how their duties will be allocated.
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Another overhaul less than a year after the previous restructuring
The scale of the latest changes becomes clearer when viewed against Movistar's previous reorganization, announced on October 29, 2025. At that time, Sebastián Unzué was appointed Head of Sports, with the team's working structure divided into four main departments.
The performance department was placed under the responsibility of Velasco and Muriel, while the race department was led by Chente García Acosta and White. Iñigo Mitxelena headed the health department, and a separate rider department was established to connect the different areas of the organization.
Less than a year later, the expected departures of White, Sciandri, Muriel and Piepoli will require another adjustment to that structure. Two of its central areas, race management and performance, will be directly affected.
For the sporting department, replacing White and Sciandri will be important in determining who takes responsibility for race tactics, calendar planning and the day-to-day management of the riders. The team will also need to decide how Muriel's coordination duties are covered and how Piepoli's work is integrated into the remaining performance staff.
Félix SernaCycling Journalist
Félix Serna is a writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2025. He covers professional cycling across both the men’s and women’s calendars, with a focus on UCI rankings, race developments, and rider performance. His work includes interview-based reports, liveblogs, and tournament coverage designed to provide clear, accurate context throughout the season.
In his reporting, Félix regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical reference. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies.
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