At the Bora-Hansgrohe training camp in Mallorca this week, the 2024 bikes and equipment prepared for Sian Uitdebroeks were not present, and Leonard Kemna and Dani Martinez, rather than the young Belgians at the Giro d'Italia Bora-Hansgrohe was to lead the team.
Uit de Broeckx agreed to end his contract with Bora-Hansgrohe a year early and is now a rider for Visma Lease-a-Bike.
"We are now planning for the 2024 season without Sian Uitdebroeks. We had a plan in place for him and a set of goals for what we were going to do with him, but he felt uncomfortable about it," at the Bora Hansgrohe media day in Majorca, when the inevitable questions about Witdebrooks were asked, Senior Director Rolf Aldag, senior director of the company, said.
"I don't think we need to discuss the details. We have found a solution that everyone can agree on, so we just have to look forward."
The "I think it's a good idea,"
Rolf Aldag said.
After an impressive run at the Vuelta a España, Uit de Brox accused Bora-Hansgrohe of bullying and abuse and pressed for an early end to his contract.
The team categorically rejected these claims, insisting that certain internal investigations had shown no wrongdoing on their part.
"If things are not working the way they should, we have to investigate it," Aldag said.
"The way it was 'executed' is quite complicated, and I think we can all agree that the way it was done in public was not good for the team, for him, and for the sport."
"Of all the stories, this is my biggest regret.
Uit de Broeks' feelings were not ignored by Aldag after the team's internal investigation, but he wondered why nothing was immediately raised by Ryder himself.
"You don't want that for your team. We investigated it, we talked to all the riders, and we really didn't find anything," Aldag said, as reported by Het Laatste Nieuws.
"Of course, I'm not saying anything about the feelings Cyan felt. I'm just saying that there was no indication that he was ostracized or bullied. Still, what I'm wondering is, if something happened at the Vuelta, why didn't he bring it out right away?"[25
Ardagh insisted that he would greet Wit de Brooks at the race, but would avoid hostility.
"I'm not going to keep the Cyan-Jambo-Bora story alive for another three months," Aldag said.
"It won't help us. He is now part of Jumbo-Bisma. If I see him in the elevator, I wish him a good day. We are Team Beulah Hansgrohe and now we are moving forward without him. Does he have the talent? Was there a plan to develop him?
Aldag hopes that the Witdebrooks case will help modernize and improve the rules regarding the signing and transfer of riders.
"Personally, I think it's really bad for the sport. Personally, I think it's really bad for the sport.
"I don't think it should be repeated and I'm pretty sad that it happened that way."
"I think it's a really bad thing for the sport.
Earlier this week, Lotto-Dstny CEO Stéphane Heulot claimed to RTBF that Visma-Lease a Bike tried to add Andreas Krohn to its ranks this offseason in a similar fashion.
The Dutch team responded that "he [Kron] contacted us and claimed that there was a clause in his contract allowing him to move to a World Tour team," but this turned out not to be true and they declined.
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