YAROSLAV POPOVYCH DS, TREK- SEGAFREDO

Charlie had a difficult beginning of the season, when he had some crashes and some injuries. So it was not the best year for him at the beginning. Then he had another health problem. At the end of the year he was really, really good but the problem in the team was that we had chosen our riders for four or five months before the end of the season, so that was the big problem with him remaining on the team. Many times this situation has happened. Every year you have some young riders in the team who this happens to, and it is the second or third year when they understand how the team works. It is too late, and they need to search for another team. In the final two three months of this season Charlie was amazing, and if he had shown this at the beginning of the season we would not have to end the contract with him. This is life. He understands how it works, and he is a really good professional. In the final part of the season he was good, he was skinny, he was working well with the team, but it was too late. He will perform well on a good team. You have time for development, but you also need to perform; that’s the reality of the cycling world. When riders have managers, they pay them a lot of money, they need to use them and get them to find a team for the next season.