Canadian champion Derek Gee-West can finally breathe a sigh of relief and focus on the major goals for his 2026 season with Lidl-Trek after months of a reported $30 million lawsuit hanging over his head.
The 28-year-old met with the media today, including Cyclingnews, in a video call from the Lidl-Trek team camp, and confirmed that the case was now resolved but preferred not to speak about his contentious departure from Israel-Premier Tech that could easily have ended his career.
However, in a separate interview with the Spanish newspaper El País along with his attorney, he was more forthcoming.
“These past months have been incredibly stressful,” Gee-West told El País. “This case has been a constant headache, a process in which I’ve experienced some truly dark days, with moments when I thought that, unfortunately, retirement was a very real possibility, especially given the enormous sum of money involved.”
Former team owner and billionaire Sylvan Adams attempted to sue Gee-West for a reported €30 million in damages after the rider terminated his contract with Israel-Premier Tech following the mass protests against the team amid Israel’s armed conflict in Gaza.
After months of silence, Gee-West and attorney Branco Martins finally revealed to El País that they asserted that his contract was that of a self-employed freelancer, not of a salaried employee, so he was free to break his contract.
“What worried me most was making it clear at all times that money was never my motivation,” Gee-West said to El País. “There’s no good way to express your political opinion without being rejected. In the end, I didn’t want to use what was happening in the Gaza Strip as a scapegoat to get out of my contract. I didn’t think it was fair.”
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…