Less than a year after Tim Decker moved to China after a long stint as Australia’s track endurance coach, the 49-year-old returned to his Adelaide home as he prepares to take on a new job with AusCycling.

 

– By Rob Arnold

 

 

In February 2022 Tim Decker set off on an ambitious journey. The track cycling coach who had been in charge of the endurance program for the national federation’s endurance program for the Rio and Tokyo Olympics was preparing for a considerable life change.

“I’m taking up a new role as the Chinese track endurance lead coach,” Decker told RIDE Media in February 2022. “It’ll be to build the endurance squad, not from nothing – they have a good provincial system – but to get competitive on the world stage.”

Throughout last year, Decker kept in contact and explained some of results the riders under his guidance achieved, with the Chinese team pursuit posting times of around 3:53 in some events (and in training sessions).

The coach was pleased with the progress he was making, and things seemed to be on track for Decker’s first major rendezvous with the Chinese cycling team: the Paris Olympics.

“My focus will be until Paris,” Decker said early in 2022. “We’ll see what unfolds after that but a priority will be to qualify an Olympic spot in each endurance event at the Paris Olympic Games, so that’s male and female, six events.”

Decker’s Chinese experience is now over. He quit his job late last year and is now living in Adelaide again as he prepares to take up a new position with AusCycling’s track program.

RIDE Media reached out to Decker this week but he has not yet responded to calls.

Earlier today, while I was in the City of Adelaide Tour Village (ie. the expo area for the TDU), I caught up briefly with Jesse Korf – AusCycling’s ‘Executive General Manager, Performance’. The meeting wasn’t planned but it allowed me to ask about Decker’s new role.

At this stage, AusCycling hasn’t yet decided on the exact title, but Korf confirmed that the job had been advertised for the obligatory four-week period to ensure that there was ample time for the various recruitment agencies to find the right person.

“I’ll be able to confirm the position and the exact title in the coming days,” Korf told me.

There was already talk in the Australian cycling community that Decker would be returning to the national high-performance program, one that has been significantly changed since Korf was elevated to EGM.

We wait for the official release and the explanation of what Decker will be managing but Korf explained that he would indeed slot back into the track cycling program, which has long been based in Adelaide.

“That’s what he’s great at,” Korf said when asked if the new job was related to the track program, “and it’s great to be able to draw on his experience again.”

To date, there has been no release about the re-appointment from AusCycling and now that the role has been filled there is no evidence of the job advert on the federation’s site or the recruitment agency that manages placements for the NSO.

RIDE Media understands that at least three candidates for the role went through the interview process, including the interim track coach for AusCycling, former Olympic gold medallist Brett Aitken.

Another candidate for the un-named position is said to be Jordan Kerby, a former pursuit world champion who was dropped from the Australian team the year after his gold medal winning ride in Hong Kong.

Korf has recently reached out to RIDE Media to explain that AusCycling will now indeed release information about Decker’s return to the federation, and that is expected to happen today despite – only hours ago – being told that it would be done in “around a week”.

– By Rob Arnold