Lorena Wiebes and Parkhotel Valkenburg settle contract dispute

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Lorena Wiebes and Parkhotel Valkenburg settle contract dispute

Lorena Wiebes and Parkhotel Valkenburg have agreed that world number one Wiebes will temporarily stay with the Dutch team and avoid a trial scheduled for Thursday in Alkmaar.

According to Dutch news agency De Limburger on Wednesday, details of the settlement are confidential, but title sponsor Jos van de Mortel said the agreement satisfies both parties in the dispute.

"We have reached an agreement that satisfies no one. But we have a resolution," Van de Mortel said.

Wiebes admitted to RTV Utrecht that her management and Parkhotel Valkenburg discussed the dispute on Tuesday and reached an agreement.

"There was a discussion yesterday between my camp and Parkhotel Valkenburg. I don't know exactly what was discussed, but it seems that we reached a resolution there. That's good, because neither of us was waiting for a lawsuit," Wiebes said.

"It's not the most ideal situation. I have always said that I have nothing against the girls at the Park Hotel Valkenburg. 'My ambitions, especially my vision, were very much in conflict with the Park Hotel management. Now we have found a solution, which we have been working on for the first six months, and we have agreed that I will cause as little trouble as possible for the management around me," Viebes said.

Wiebes signed a contract with Parkhotel Valkenburg in 2018 and will race for the team until 2021. However, after a successful 2019 season, Wiebes received multiple contract offers from top-tier teams CCC-Liv, Sunweb, and Trek-Segafredo, and was seeking a way out of his contract with second-tier team Parkhotel Valkenburg.

Last year, Wiebes won 15 races, including the Tour of Chongmin Island, the RideLondon Classic, two stages of the Boels Ladies Tour, and the overall victory at the Dutch Road Race Championships. She finished the season ranked No. 1 in the UCI world rankings.

She had hoped to reach an agreement, or at least clarity, with Parkhotel Valkenburg prior to January 1 regarding the status of her contract for the 2020 season. She told NOS that if she could not get out of her contract by that date, she might not be able to play at all until the transfer market opens on June 1, 2020.

The Parkhotel Valkenburg side plans to sue Weaves for breach of contract and will file a complaint in Alkmaar court on Thursday. The UCI also confirmed to NOS that Wiebes cannot sign with a new team at this time, as her contract expires on November 1, 2019. She must now wait until the June transfer window.

According to De Limburger, the settlement between Wiebes and Parkhotel Valkenburg means that she will continue racing for the Dutch team "for the time being" and her contract has been revised.

"Consider it a temporary agreement. For the time being she is racing for us, but there may come a time when she changes teams," Van de Mortel said. Her contract has been terminated and a new settlement agreement is currently being worked out."

"She will wear our jersey and ride our bikes in the spring races.

Vives manager Andre Voskamp told De Limburger that both sides had tried to resolve the dispute amicably. 'We have largely resolved it, and now it's just a sensitive issue,' he said. 'We want to make sure that the temporary restraining order doesn't show up on Weaves' resume.'

With both parties having reached an agreement, the court proceedings against Wiebes at the Park Hotel Valkenburg are over. Van de Mortel said, "No one wants this to drag on."

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