Wout Van Aert has won a labor tribunal case, avoiding the risk of paying €1.1 million in damages to former Verandas Willems-Clarin manager Nick Nuyens. A judge in Mechelen, Belgium, delivered the verdict on Tuesday, ruling in favor of Art, a former cyclocross world champion and recent Tour de France stage winner.
Nuyens was seeking €1.15 million ($991,719) after Van Aert unilaterally terminated his contract in September 2018, when the team was negotiating a merger with Dutch team Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij.
Van Aert had already agreed to run with Jumbo Visma in 2020 upon the expiration of his contract with Nuijns, but joined the Dutch WorldTour team in 2019 after he terminated his contract and a legal trial was underway.
Following accusations that Nuyens had convinced Art's former coach, Niels Albert, to sign a incriminating statement about him, Van Art argued that he was entitled to terminate his contract. Alberto refused and became a material witness in the case.
Van Art and his lawyers argued that this was an "urgent reason" to terminate the contract due to lack of trust. Nuys' lawyers argued that this was part of a ruse by van Art to terminate the contract, but the judge ruled in favor of Nuys.
Nuyens was ordered to bear the costs of the lawsuit, but could appeal the ruling.
Van Aert is currently recovering from a serious leg injury sustained in the Pau time trial stage of the Tour de France. He made contact with a roadside barrier, which caught his lower back and dug deep into the muscles, causing him to be violently ripped from his time trial bike. He was taken to a hospital near Pau where he underwent surgery to repair skin, capsular, and muscle tears in his upper thigh and hip. A week later, he underwent a second surgery in Belgium and was allowed to leave the hospital at the end of July. Doctors recommended two months of recuperation before Van Aert began any kind of rehabilitation. He recently began riding outdoors, competing in cyclocross races, with the goal of returning to road racing in 2020.
VanArt did not appear in court on Tuesday, but was soon contacted by his attorney.
"He can now regain his mental peace and focus fully on his sport," Walter van Steenbrugge said, according to Sporza.
"Cycling is not just a sport; there must be a relationship of trust between employer and employee. That was no longer true here."
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