Rod Ellingworth admitted that he wanted to keep Rohan Dennis at Bahrain Merida. The Australian rider was fired by the team last month with one year left on his contract.

Dennis made headlines at the Tour de France in July when he abandoned the race on the eve of his specialty, the individual time trial, due to problems over the equipment supplied to him. He did not race with the team after that, but made a comeback in September, winning the world title in the Australian Colours time trial.

Ellingworth took some time off after leaving Team Ineos in April, but officially took over as Bahrain Merida's manager on October 1. Ellingworth joined Bahrain Merida as team representative, but his start date came after Dennis terminated his two-year contract on September 13. Dennis is currently in court against Bahrain Merida, but in an interview with the Telegraph, Ellingworth admitted that he had hoped the Australian would remain with the team.

"One thing I can say is that I wanted Rohan to stay," Ellingworth told the British newspaper.

"He was definitely part of my long-term plan.

Dennis currently does not have a team for 2020, but Ellingworth's main focus is to stamp a new identity on Bahrain-Merida, and the team will race under the Bahrain McLaren banner next season. Ellingworth has successfully added new faces to both the roster and backroom staff, bringing in Wout Poels and Mikel Landa from Team Ineos and Movistar, respectively. Tim Harris and Roger Hammond will supplement the existing staff, while Brent Copeland will focus on team operations.

Vincenzo Nibali is moving to Trek-Segafredo, so Landa and Poels, who were with Team Sky during Ellingworth's time with the team, will be responsible for stage race results. According to Ellingworth's interview with the Telegraph, Poels will focus on one week of stage racing, while Landa will concentrate on next summer's Tour de France.

"Mikel" he is clearly one of the most talented climbers in the world. He is very natural when he is pedaling. I look forward to working with him again," Ellingworth said.

"I know he had a bit of a bad reputation on Sky, but I never thought of him as a nuisance. My sense from talking to him is that he's asking more questions and being more forthcoming. He is beginning to understand what it takes to be a leader. I think he is in danger of getting his blood boiling by the third week to see if this course is right for him. We will see.