The beleaguered Lotto-Soudal are still searching for a team manager, with Andrei Tchmil the latest candidate to be ruled out for the role during the drawn our selection process.
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, the former Classics specialist was told he lacks experience, feedback he says he does not understand.
Lotto Soudal have been looking for a new CEO after it was announced at the end of September that John Lelangue would be leaving after four years in charge, culminating in the team's relegation from the WorldTour at the end of this season.
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After Axel Merckx, who runs the renowned development team Axeon Hagens Berman, ruled himself out, the search for a new boss is narrowing down to a final few candidates.
Tchmil raced for Lotto from 1994 to 2002, winning Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. However, he will not be leading the team into 2023 and is struggling to come to terms with it.
"I don't understand. I would accept it if they said that I am not a real Belgian, that I do not speak Dutch, that I do not live in Belgium. Not that I have no experience," he told Het Laatste Nieuws.
Apart from holding Russian, Ukrainian and Moldovan passports, Tchmil also gained Belgian nationality in 1998. Having previously managed the Katusha team, he currently runs a bicycle company in Moldova but was reportedly keen to return to Belgium to help his former team get back on track in 2023, when they'll be known as Lotto-Dstny.
"I asked if my age might be playing against me," the 59-year-old added. "The answer was no. I don't understand."
The team are still looking to fill the vacant CEO post, as part of a trio of senior management rules that include a Sports Manager and a Chief Business Officer.
Kurt Van der Wouwer, who used to run the team's development arm, has been promoted to Sports Manager, a role that has been vacant since the departure of previous general manager Marc Sergeant at the end of 2021.
Yana Seel is in charge of the business side of the operation and is said to be uninterested in the CEO role.
Frank Glorieux, ex-CEO of Cycling Vlaanderen, is reportedly a potential candidate to succeed Lelangue.
