Major Transfer for Team Director Michel Cornelisse in Women's Cycling
Raymond Kerckhoffs
Michel Cornelisse will become a team director at UAE Team ADQ starting next season. The Amsterdam native will share the sporting leadership of the team from the United Arab Emirates with Cherie Pridham.
With Elisa Longo Borghini, UAE Team ADQ boasts one of the best women in the peloton. This year, the team won the Giro d’Italia with Longo Borghini, while French rider Maëva Squiban took two stage wins at the Tour de France Femmes.
For the past six years, Cornelisse worked for the Roodhooft brothers. The first three years were with the men's team, where he was, among other roles, the team director for Mathieu van der Poel during his spectacular victory at the 2019 Amstel Gold Race. In the last three years, he led the women's team Fenix-Deceuninck, where Puck Pieterse and Pauliena Rooijakkers delivered outstanding results.
Elisa Longo Borghini wins the Giro d'Italia. Photo: Cor Vos
For Cornelisse, who turns 60 later this year, this is a new challenge. UAE Team ADQ is known as a team with a strong organizational structure and plans to make substantial investments in the women's team in the coming years. Dutch riders Karlijn Swinkels and Sofie van Rooijen are also under contract with the team for 2026. In addition to Longo Borghini and Squiban, the team will also have Brodie Chapman and Silvia Persico among its roster next year.
Cornelisse has extensive experience in cycling, having ridden professionally for fourteen years. As a team director, he worked five years at Vacansoleil, followed by two years at MTN-Qhubeka, and then two years with Roompot and SEG Racing Academy.
