In the wake of the Cian Uijtdebroeks contract saga, Soudal-QuickStep CEO Patrick Lefevere has raised the idea of professional cycling implementing a rider transfer system akin to that used in European football.
20-year-old Uijtdebroeks has made the headlines since Saturday, when Jumbo-Visma claimed to have signed him on a four-year deal before his current squad Bora-Hansgrohe countered with a claim that he remains under contract until December 2024.
His agency A&J All Sports have further claimed that the talented young Belgian has already terminated his Bora-Hansgrohe contract, while the German team have reportedly demanded a €1 million buyout fee to release him.
Professional cycling world doesn't have a transfer system like European football, where teams can purchase players for fees, but the concept of riders moving teams before the end of their contract isn't a new one.
Primož Roglič transferred from Jumbo-Visma and Bora-Hansgrohe after he struck a deal with the teams and secured UCI approval for the move, reportedly paying a fee of three million Euro to Jumbo-Visma.
Other riders have made similar moves in the past, including Bradley Wiggins when he moved to Team Sky in 2010. WorldTour teams have 'bought' talented young riders from smaller teams in the past, with Egan Bernal and Iván Sosa moving from Androni to Ineos Grenadiers. However Wout van Aert's move from Vérandas Willems to Jumbo-Visma was more controversial, with the Belgian rider still locked in a legal battle to avoid paying compensation.
Lefevere, who earlier this year put a huge price tag on Remco Evenepoel amid interest from Ineos, told Het Nieuwsblad that cycling's transfer model "isn't sustainable", saying that the system could move closer to something resembling that of football in future.
"Look, in the long run, the current system isn't sustainable," Lefevere said. "This can't become a habit or else we have a problem. It will be impossible to present sponsors with a five-year project. If riders leave early, you're left exposed.
"A transfer system like in football would give us the opportunity to build a war chest. Everyone is equal before the law. We discover young riders and don't let them go mad. Then I think we could make some money from it if another team wants to take them."
One counterargument to this system would be that the richest teams would hoard the top talent, as has been the case in European football with clubs like Manchester City, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain spending millions on the world's top talent.
Lefevere noted that even with cycling's current short-term contract-based system, the sport largely resembles football.
The richest teams – such as Jumbo-Visma, Ineos Grenadiers, and UAE Team Emirates – already wield their financial strength over the rest.
"The fact that all good riders would end up on teams with the largest budgets? That's already the case," he said.
Lefevere also said that the contract-based system used in cycling, where riders are theoretically tied to their team until the expiry of their agreed-upon deals, is no longer sacrosanct in any case.
"I don't have to draw you a picture. Very often it's the team managers who try to screw each other over, recommending riders to other teams and then convincing them until they agree," he said. There are a few specialists in this. Although I still believe [Bora-Hansgrohe manager] Ralph Denk is not always entirely correct."
At the weekend, Lefevere took to social media to accuse Denk of hypocrisy, recounting a 2021 meeting regarding a possible offer for Remco Evenepoel.
"On January 21, 2021, I met Ralph Denk in Brussels," Lefevere wrote. "We agreed to wait to do an offer [for] Remco Evenpoel until at least end of [March] 31 after I released my riders if I didn't have a future.
"On [March] 8, he did a written offer to the father of Remco. So please don't cry now."
Speaking to Het Nieuwsblad, Lefevere said that the Uijtdebroeks saga has surprised him, given how smoothly Roglič's switch between the two teams appeared to go down.
"What surprises me is that everything with Primož Roglič was handled neatly and now with Cian Uijtdebroeks it's not," he said. "But I don't know the details, so I won't make any statements about the reasons."
The latest on the Uijtdebroeks saga is that the rising GC star is joining up with Jumbo-Visma at their Spanish training camp today, riding in a plain black kit but on a Jumbo-Visma-issued Cervelo bike ahead of the team's 2024 presentation on December 21. Bora-Hansgrohe continue to insist he's their rider, however, and the prospect of a legal battle over his future has been raised by all sides involved.
On Tuesday, Bora-Hansgrohe denied claims first reported by Dutch journalist Thijs Zonneveld that Uijtdebroeks had been bullied and "treated like a nerd" during the Vuelta a España, refuting the claims the existence of an 'Anti-Cian' WhatsApp group.
"100% I can deny that. Definitely not. Especially from my side, and the riders’ side," Bora-Hansgrohe directeur sportif Bernie Eisel said, before admitting that the dispute is likely heading to court.
