Alan Piper will step away from the sport in 2022, stepping down from his position at UAE Team Emirates to focus on his own health.

The former Australian rider has been suffering from cancer in recent years, which has left him "unable to do the kind of work I want to do."

Piper was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015, and in 2019 cancer was discovered in his lungs and ribs, each time requiring extensive chemotherapy.

Having worked for BMC Racing, he joined UAE Team Emirates as sporting director before the 2019 season, but had to leave for the rest of the season that spring due to health issues.

He was to move into an advisory role with the team for 2022, but it was announced on Monday that he would step aside entirely.

"The cancer treatments I have undergone over the past six years have taken a toll on me mentally and physically. I don't even feel like I can do the work I want to do right now," Piper said in a team statement. [The last three years with UAE Team Emirates have been a wonderful experience. The team gave me every opportunity and showed immense support and understanding, knowing that I was ill.

Piper, who worked for Peygot and Panasonic teams in the 1980s, began his coaching career in 2005 with Lotto Soudal and later held similar roles at T-Mobile/Highroad, Garmin-Sharp, and BMC Racing.

He joined UAE Team Emirates ahead of the 2019 season, but soon learned that his cancer had returned, forcing him to step down for the remainder of the year in April; he returned in 2020 to lead Tadej Pogachar to his and the team's first Tour de France win, He repeated the feat in 2021.

Because he had to finish his first stint soon after Paris-Roubaix, Piper's last race again in 2021 was the Hell of the North, held late in the season.

"Although he is stepping down, Alan will always be part of the team. We have all learned so much from him over the past three years. His professionalism, dedication and knowledge are invaluable to the team and we are all very grateful and thankful for what he has done," said team boss Mauro Gianetti.

"We wish him the best and we all support him in his latest battle, believing he will tackle it with the same drive and determination he always has. Alain's place in the team will be permanent and as soon as his health improves, the door will be open for him."[21