Fuglsang says he knows nothing of L’Equipe report
Cycling’s governing body the UCI has said that it has received no official word about the situation with the Leopard Trek team, which l’Equipe reported today will stop at the end of the season.
Speaking to VeloNation, UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani said that it was aware of the reports but that until such time as the news was made official, the governing body can’t give its thoughts on the matter.
“Right now, the UCI has not received any information. We see the rumours in the newspapers and on the internet but that is all we know for now. As you can imagine we’ve had many calls today from people asking about it, but until we learn more we can’t tell them anything.”
Speaking at the Vuelta a España, Jakob Fuglsang has also spoken in similar tones. He is one of the riders with a multi-year contract on the team, and therefore expected to ride as part of the setup next year.
“I am disappointed that we have not heard anything from the team and I am of course disappointed if it turns out to be a reality,” he told Sporten.dk. “The team has told us riders nothing at all. We know even less than you journalists do.
“I’m sure I’ll need to find another team if it is the case. It affects me, and we are already starting to think a little about what the options might be if I suddenly don’t have a contract.”
L’Equipe today reported that the four year project would simply come to an abrupt end at the end of the year, and that several riders would move across to the current RadioShack team structure. It suggests the Schleck brothers will move, amongst others, but points out that eleven riders would be left short and have to find alternative deals for 2012.
Of those, it named nine: Brice Feillu, Fabian Wegmann, Thomas Rohregger, Martin Mortensen, Martin Pedersen, Tom Stamsnijer, Bruno Pirès, Anders Lund and Davide Vigano as being part of that group. All have contracts extending past the end of this season, as Jens Voigt is the only one out of the team’s 25 riders with a one year deal. It says current general manager Brian Nygaard will leave his post and instead become a press officer with the new GreenEdge setup.
Luxembourg entrepreneur Flavio Becca currently puts in the bulk of the budget of the multi-million euro squad, which doesn’t have a title sponsor. He is said to be set to announce the end of the project later this month, and to be moving across with Trek to back the current RadioShack team. L’Equipe says that he will also contribute there, but at a level 50% less than he is currently putting into Leopard Trek.
The riders signed for two or more years have valid contracts. While the UCI wouldn’t comment on the matter, it is understood that under its rules, such deals can’t simply be broken. Riders could also consider action under contract law in the country of the team’s registration, Luxembourg.
Fuglsang said that he has an existing deal. “It’s not what we had expected. It was not what any of us had anticipated when we signed the contract during last year, that it could go like that. It sounded as though it was a project of four years.”
He said that Nygaard would be visiting the Vuelta a España riders today, but that he is unsure how much detail the Danish manager would himself have at this point.
Nygaard has not responded to requests for an interview about the issue. Directeur sportif Kim Andersen and the team’s press officer could not be contacted today.