Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Saturday, June 27, 2020
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2019 Tour de France | 2019 Giro d'Italia
In politics, stupidity is not a handicap - Napoleon
Important upcoming racing, according to the UCI revised calendar:
- August 1: Strade Bianche
- August 5-9: Tour of Poland
- August 8: Milano-San Remo
- August 12-16: Critérium du Dauphiné
Latest completed racing:
- May 1-3:
Vuelta Asturias - May 1:
Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt - April 22-26: Digital Swiss 5
Manuela Fundación offers €10 million for WorldTour license
CyclingTips.com posted this interesting turn of events:
The Manuela Fundación/Mitchelton-Scott saga took has taken interesting turn. According to Spanish newspaper AS, Francisco Huertas, the Spanish businessman who runs the Manuela Fundación with his wife Maria Angustias González, has offered €10 million to buy Mitchelton-Scott’s WorldTour license from team owner Gerry Ryan.
The Manuela Fundación/Mitchelton-Scott story has at least kept the 2020 racing hiatus interesting. Sirotti photo
AS reports that the offer was made on Thursday.
The hefty offer for the all-important WorldTour license is the latest development in a story that has taken a few unexpected twists and turns since Mitchelton-Scott first announced two weeks ago that it was becoming Team Manuela Fundación. Initially, the team said that the nascent Spanish non-profit was coming onboard as the new main sponsor, with an official launch set for July.
For the next few days, people around the world of cycling tried to learn more about the Manuela Fundación, the terms of its agreement, and whether Ryan would continue to own the team. Less than a week later, however, Ryan decided to scuttle the deal. CyclingTips understands that the would-be partnership was arranged by Mitchelton-Scott general manager Shayne Bannan without fully consulting Ryan.
Ryan’s decision to call off the deal caught the people over at the Manuela Fundación off guard, with former Giro d’Italia winner Stefano Garzelli, who had been handling negotiations for the team, telling CicloWeb that “Ryan’s words were like a cold shower.”
As far as the team over at Manuela Fundación knew, they had made a deal that would see them taking ownership of the Mitchelton-Scott team starting in 2021. It has since emerged that the deal struck by Manuela Fundación secured the purchase of Bannan’s New Global Cycling Service, which runs a variety of operations for the squad and manages a wide array of team assets—but does not actually own the team license, which is owned by Ryan.
You can read the entire story here.
Yves Lampaert extends with Deceuninck-Quick Step
Here's is the team's release:
Yves Lampaert has signed a new contract with Deceuninck – Quick-Step Cycling Team, adding two more years to his previous deal [extending his time with the tim until 2022]. The former Belgian National Champion has been with the Wolfpack since 2015 and has become a mainstay in the team, showing his strength in the Spring Classics – where he won Dwars door Vlaanderen on two occasions, as well as finishing on the podium at Paris-Roubaix – in addition to this being an invaluable part of our Grand Tour teams.
Yves Lampaert after the 2020 Het Nieuwsblad. Sirotti photo
Speaking of the agreement, Yves could not hide his delight: “I’m happy with my contract extension. It’s nice to feel Patrick and the team putting their trust in me! This definitely gives me an extra boost for the remainder of the season, once it will restart. I can now go to the upcoming races with a clear mind. I have a special bond with this team and I’m a proud Wolf. Next year will be my seventh with the squad and I hope there will be many more.”
Deceuninck – Quick-Step CEO Patrick Lefevere was equally pleased with retaining the services of Lampaert, who has enjoyed a strong start to the year in the Spring Classics, before the season got halted due to the pandemic: “Yves has been part of our circle of trust for some time now. We know what he is capable of and we believe he will only improve in the coming years. He is very much appreciated by his colleagues and never hesitates to give his all for them. He puts the group first and not himself, as it should be in the Wolfpack. Having him on board for two more years gives us a lot of satisfaction.”
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