The CEO of Belgian bike brand Ridley has issued a statement accusing Lotto Dstny of “reputational damage” consigning the two sides’ 12-year partnership to the bin after it emerged the team will cut ties with the brand and switch to a new bike sponsor in 2024.
The ProTeam were set to continue aboard Ridley bikes for another two years, in a deal signed in 2021 that was set to last until the end of the 2025 season. However, it was reported in the Belgian press this week that the team is ready to switch to Orbea.
Het Laatste Nieuws cited the delayed supply of time trial bikes as one reason for the split, but when the reports were later confirmed by the Lotto Dstny CEO Stéphane Heulot, he admitted financial motivations were also at play.
Describing them as “ongoing press leaks from new management at Lotto-Dstny,” Ridley’s CEO, Jochim Aerts, who helped to cement the team’s future in 2011 with an eight-year commitment at a time when only two riders were on the team’s books, pointed to Arnaud De Lie‘s contract negotiations as the catalyst for the split in a statement issued to HLN.
“Ridley feels compelled to respond to ongoing press leaks from new management at Lotto Dstny. A current agreement is unilaterally terminated and 12 years of intensive and positive cooperation are consigned to the wastepaper basket,” he began.
“In 2021, we were asked by the then Management to break open the current agreement, something that we as a company went along with to please the team and the riders. Two years later, when we are fully investing in optimizing the material for the team, we get a cold shower.”
“At the end of May, several shots were fired in the press in which the CEO of the team claimed that Ridley’s bikes would not be ProTour worthy. There would be doubts, especially about the new time trial bike, the new Dean.”
The Dean launched in August at the World Championships in Glasgow but was spotted beneath riders as early as June at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Interestingly, an unnamed road bike was also seen at the Dauphiné and later in more detail at the Tour de France. That bike is yet to be launched, but Aerts’ statement has today confirmed its name as the ‘Falcn.’
“It is remarkable when you see how many races Arnaud De Lie wins on our new “Falcn” and when you read that Alec Segaert states on September 16, 2022, following the signing of a professional contract, that the new Ridley time trial bike has certainly played a role in his decision!
“A good…
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