The T100 Triathlon World Tour has pulled off a coup by poaching the commercial director of the RFU, Stuart Ramsey, to join its board.
Ramsey is expected to be confirmed as chief commercial officer of the PTO Tour, the circuit co-owned by athletes and investors including Sir Michael Moritz and Warner Bros Discovery and which organises the T100 events, next week. He is understood to be starting the job in April.
Ramsey is credited with helping to strike the RFU’s £100m deal with Allianz for naming rights to Twickenham, which took effect last year. His move was first reported by The Guardian.
“RFU commercial director, Stuart Ramsey, will be leaving the organisation next month to follow his personal passion projects, one of which is to help grow triathlon,” said the RFU.
“He will be joining PTO (Professional Triathletes Organisation) a new sports body in triathlon that is co-owned by its professional athletes, and which is seeking to elevate the sport and take it mainstream.
“We thank Stuart for all he’s achieved during his time at the RFU including new commercial partnerships with Allianz, John Lewis Money and AG1. We wish him all the best for the future.”
It comes ahead of the biggest season yet for the T100 Tour, which features leading male and female triathletes competing over 100km, as it expands to an eight-race calendar starting in Singapore next month.
Further races are scheduled for Vancouver, the French Riviera, London, Valencia, Las Vegas and Dubai before the season finale in Qatar, which has signed a five-year hosting deal.
Ramsey will join a leadership team at the PTO that includes chairman Chris Kermode, who previously ran the ATP Tour in tennis, and chief executive Sam Renouf, a former triathlete.
His departure from the RFU, however, is another blow to the embattled organisation, where CEO Bill Sweeney faces a vote of no-confidence later this month.
Sweeney is in the firing line over the payment of almost £1m in bonuses to him and other directors last year, when the RFU made record losses and 42 redundancies.
RFU chair Tom Ilube resigned in December over the furore, when the governing body also lost chief operations officer and chief financial officer Sue Day to the Football Association.
An independent review of the bonus scheme by law firm Freshfields endorsed its aims and application but criticised a lack of consultation and communication by the RFU.