Rudy Pevenage, the team director of Rock Racing during the 2009 season, has left the squad.
“Like Lorenzo Lapage since late 2009 I am no longer part of that team,” said Pevenage in the Belgian newspaper De Morgan. “Besides, Lapage and I are still owed a few months salary from the people who are or were in charge. I have nothing to do with Rock Racing.”
Lapage was able to get a contract as director for Astana, however Pevenage has been left out in the cold.
“There were huge promises, but they were never fulfilled.”
Pevenage directed the team to success in races such as the 2009 Tour of Utah. But like overall winner Oscar Sevilla, he is left wondering about the status of the team.
“In a very short time we created something beautiful with some good sporting results. Lorenzo and I have proved that with limited resources we could build something good out of the ground.”
Earlier this year the UCI’s Management Committee refused Rock Racing’s appeal for a Pro Continental license. They said in a statement that the decision was taken based on the dossier that Rock Racing presented to them, along with advice from their auditors. From that point on there has been limited communication between team owner Michael Ball and the Rock Racing staff.
According to EsCiclismo.com, the Murcia region was preparing to partner with Rock Racing team to form the Rock Racing-Murcia UCI Continental Team, and would register with a Mexican Continental license.
Last Thursday the UCI released a list of all the registered Continental teams for 2010 and Rock Racing was not included which drove another nail in Rock Racing’s coffin.
Pevenage was Jan Ullrich’s mentor at T-Mobile and like Ullrich, was suspended in 2006 due to his involvement in Operation Puerto.