Much has already been said and written about it: the upcoming merger between Lotto and Intermarché-Wanty. The necessary paperwork has now been submitted to the UCI, but the merger also brings various uncertainties. For the riders who fall by the wayside, the outlook remains uncertain. Former rider Adam Hansen shares this view.
The Australian ex-pro — who previously rode for the Lotto team — is closely following the imminent merger in his role as chairman of the riders' union CPA. Hansen watches the current situation — in which riders don’t know where they stand — with concern.
"As a WorldTour team, you can have a maximum of 30 riders under contract, whereas combined, both teams have 43. That’s an ideal situation from the new team’s perspective, because they can simply choose who they want to keep and who they don’t," he explained in an interview with Sporza. "But from the riders’ point of view, it’s unfair, because they are being held hostage by this situation."
Poor communication
"As long as they have a continuing contract, they cannot leave the team, so they have to keep waiting until there is news." And that’s exactly where the problem lies, because according to Hansen, communication has been very poor. "That’s why I organized a meeting some time ago with the UCI and the managers of both teams." There, we demanded a list of the riders who were supposed to be let go."
Tom Paquot’s story may be exemplary — photo: Fotopersburo
Hansen then spoke with the riders who are looking for a new employer. "That was tough. Riders trust their agents, but the team was not only unfair to the rider, but also to the agents. Even riders who were 100% certain to stay came to me to find out if they were on or off the team. That proves how poor the communication is between the team and the riders."
Lack of transparency?
And there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the merger. "I know of a rider who was on the list to be cut and who had found another team. Yet the merged team would not let him go, because they kept wavering about whether to keep him or not. That indicates that Lotto and Intermarché weren’t entirely honest with the UCI and us when they showed that list of dropouts."
"That’s exactly what I mean by riders being held hostage." The teams can decide whether they want to keep a rider under contract or not, but the rider cannot decide whether he wants to stay or not."
