Maxim Van Gils' decision to try to rip up his contract with Lotto Dstny has sparked another rider-team battle bust-up and pushed professional cycling closer to a de facto rider transfer market system.
Most other sports have a regulated transfer market or player trading rules but the UCI rules on contracts have remained largely unchanged for years and are arguably archaic, allowing for disruptive moves even as riders begin to train for the new season.
Apart from the biggest riders and brightest talents, rider contracts usually last just two years or even 12 months. Changes in European law now mean riders can unilaterally end a contract just like any other worker but such a move is not clearly regulated under UCI rules and the consequences are often not considered.
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Van Gils signed a new contract with Lotto Dstny in March after the team recognised his success and results. However, he then finished third at La Flèche Wallonne, fourth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and won Eschborn-Frankfurt and the Grosser Preis des Kantons Aargau. That made him 'worth' much more, especially to some rival teams, with bigger budgets and ambitions. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Astana, Movistar, Ineos Grenadiers and even UAE Team Emirates have been named as possible suitors if Van Gils can get out of his contract with Lotto Dstny.
An informal deal is probably in place and driving Van Gils' ambitions. Van Gils and his agent Alex Carera have realised he is worth much more than his current deal with Lotto Dstny and so are aggressively trying to secure a better deal.
Both Lotto Dstny and Carera said talks are 'ongoing' but are likely to end with the Belgian rider leaving the team.
That can only happen if Lotto Dstny agree, if the UCI accepts the contract termination is valid and if Van Gils agrees to pay some form of fee or compensation. His relationship with Lotto Dsnty appears to be compromised, if not already over.
Whatever happens, Van Gils' actions have moved professional cycling one step closer to a form of transfer system, with a kind of trickle-down effect.
The Belgian team will lose Dstny as a second sponsor in 2025 and are reportedly trying to save costs wherever possible. They do not seem to be in the position to offer Van Gils a bigger contract so their best option could be to complete a contract termination deal with Van Gils, take the money and invest it in another rider or in other parts of their 2025 team. Van Gils could then sign a far more lucrative contract.
Van Gils is not the first rider to try to break his contract, others have done it over the years, citing a number of reasons and justifications.
Carera helped Cian Uijtdebroeks break his contract with Bora-Hansgrohe for Visma-Lease a Bike last year, citing various problems. However with some teams far wealthier than others in the WorldTour, a Pandora's box is opening, with riders and agents ever more aggressive.
Van Gils' case appears to be a blatant move to secure a better contract. That is, of course, his right. However, the consequences on the sport are significant.
Teams and the UCI are generally against forced big-rider transfers because of the disruption they cause. Imagine if Remco Evenepoel had left Soudal-QuickStep for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe or Ineos Grenadiers in a mega deal? It could have sparked the end of the team's sponsorships and so undermined the whole of Belgian cycling.
Rider agents like Carera are focused on getting the best deals for their riders as they usually earn about 5% of their salary as a fee. They would welcome a football-style transfer system, where riders' values often rise along with the riders' market interest and more transfers mean more lucrative fees.
"If someone from a smaller football team can make a transfer to a larger football team, everyone thinks that is a logical step in a footballer's career. But when a rider from Lotto Dstny can go to a team with better support, that rider is portrayed as a money-grabber. I think that is totally wrong," well-known ex-manager Paul De Geyter argued when speaking to Sporza.
Team managers have long dominated contract negotiations but are losing control, while they must still try to balance their books and keep their sponsors happy, often on short-term contracts.
"The trust between riders and team leaders is disappearing. Soon, a contract will no longer mean anything and it will be impossible to work in the long term since there is this uncertainty," an unnamed team manager told Belgian television RTBF when asked about the Van Gils case.
"Let's look at this problem the other way around. Could we imagine a team telling its rider, in mid-November when the transfer market is closed: listen, we don't need you anymore, we're going to terminate your contract? No.
"This Van Gils affair is shocking because it is November! This behaviour is not acceptable. It is a lack of respect and recognition for the entire structure of the Lotto Dstny team that trained him and brought him to this level. I think that the rider is tarnishing his image," continued the team boss.
De Geyter is in favour of a more open transfer market and buyout fees, governed by clear regulations that respect contract laws. His colleague Yannick Prévost, who is Wout van Aert's agent, is not so sure.
"That's not possible at the moment. Because to set up a transfer system, you need to have teams with a lot of capital."
"There are some rich teams, but there are also a number of teams like Lotto-Dstny that have to make sure every year that they don't end up in the red.
"A system of transfer fees is currently premature for cycling."
But it is perhaps coming.
