Patrick Lefevere lashes out at Red Bull manager Ralph Denk: "I hate him"
Patrick Lefevere has never made a secret of the fact that he and Ralph Denk are not the best of friends. In an interview with La Dernière Heure, Lefevere emphasizes this again. "I hate him," he says about the team manager of Red Bull–BORA-hansgrohe.
In the interview, Lefevere is asked what he thinks about the trend of contracts in cycling increasingly being bought out. The West Flemish says he is 'not a fan' of this. He refers to the case of Remco Evenepoel, who was poached by Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe from Soudal Quick-Step, the team Lefevere had been leading for years.
"I had sold the Remco project to Soudal for five years," says Lefevere. "And then, after three years, the trouble begins. Denk offered Remco a contract. Since then, it hasn't stopped. I even filed a complaint with the UCI. Because there is a rule that says all three parties must agree before a rider can break his contract.”
"I hate him"
Lefevere admits he has not been fond of Denk ever since. “I hate him," he makes clear. "There was a rule and he didn’t care about it. I myself experienced a similar case with Frank Vandenbroucke in 1994. But since then, I haven’t done that anymore. At one point, I could have signed Wout van Aert. I told him he was welcome if he paid the buyout fee to break his contract. He didn’t do that."
"As far as Denk is concerned: the UCI says nothing because they are afraid of Red Bull. In the case of a lawsuit, Red Bull has unlimited financial resources which would bankrupt the UCI.”
Ayuso
Although Evenepoel had a contract with Soudal Quick-Step, Lefevere was already making preparations in case he left. He looked for a possible replacement and reached out to the camp of Juan Ayuso. "A few years ago I contacted Juan Ayuso’s father, just in case Remco would leave. But the rider was under contract and we didn’t proceed," he explains. Ultimately, Ayuso’s contract, who was riding for UAE Emirates XRG, was bought out by Lidl-Trek.
