A SETTLEMENT BUT NO WINNERS

What went on at Parkhotel Valkenburg between Lorena Wiebes and the team management that in the space of a few months of the Dutchwoman finishing the season as the UCI’s number one ranked rider, she came within hours of ending up in court being sued by the team? Wiebes, 20, had a breakthrough 2019, winning 15 races, but in November reports emerged that said she was looking to move elsewhere. Not long after, Wiebes put out her own statement that said she felt her success, and the urge to repeat it this year, would inevitably put too much pressure on the young riders the squad is trying to develop. Yet crucially, Wiebes is reportedly contracted with the team through 2021, and why would management then want to let their star rider go? Wiebes’ referred to Parkhotel as a “development team” - so you could understand why bigger budget squads, with more resources, would be alluring - yet she was also the second youngest rider on its 2019 roster and in management’s eyes, a rider you could build a squad around for years to come.

Remarkably, with Rohan Dennis’s contract being terminated by BahrainMerida last August, and Andrey Amador’s contract dispute between his old team Movistar and prospective new team Ineos being sent to the UCI’s Arbitral board this new year, Wiebes vs Parkhotel Valkenburg might still not be the messiest team-rider situation we’ve seen in the past 12 months.

Still, when a relationship breaks down this much, when is it time to say enough is enough? A settlement was reached in January between Wiebes and the team to stop a court case ensuing, but no one wins here. Wiebes stays in Parkhotel kit for a bit longer, but will be racing in body, not mind, while Parkhotel have an unhappy rider who is holding up their ability to rebuild. They’ve “made agreements that I am as little as possible bothered by the management around me”, Wiebes said. And that says all you need to know.