Teams & Riders Derek Gee is the new G

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aruipksni

Oct 7, 2013
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Jan the Man

Mar 12, 2010
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Samamba said:
Everyone should just start working with ridiculous buy out clauses like UAEU, but then again, I think there is the problem, not every team can, cause it isn't possible under every law. The UCI really needs to start doing something about it now, it's getting very problematic if certain teams even have these kind of advantages.
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Genuine question for Belgiums. How does this work in practice. Can anybody terminate a fixed term contract in exchange for payment - if so what is the mechanism for the amount.
 
Samamba

Samamba

May 10, 2015
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Jan the Man said:
Genuine question for Belgiums. How does this work in practice. Can anybody terminate a fixed term contract in exchange for payment - if so what is the mechanism for the amount.
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Yes, how much the compensation is depends on the length of the contract and how much someone earns. So a young guy who's still earning peanuts (like Uijtdebroecks at Bora for example) can leave for way less money than an expensive rider.

If I remember correctly the compensation is generally (a judge can rule differently technically) around what the athlete would be earning between the moment of the contract termination and the end of the contract. For example for Van Aert it was 668000, the amount he was going to earn in 15 months time when he was at Veranda's Willems.

The problem with this is of course that as a team you can't "win" anymore. Underpay a rider (which would've been a job well done in the past) and they can just leave for a compensation that isn't big enough (like with Uijtdebroecks for example or Van Aert even). Overpay a rider and you're still *** as a team cause they can't get out of it (well you can but you need to pay them off). Athletes always win, teams don't. The law is there to protect the employee of course, which is completely fine for normal employees, but it just does not make sense for rich athletes who have all the power.
 
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Netserk

Netserk

Apr 30, 2011
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Samamba said:
Yes, how much the compensation is depends on the length of the contract and how much someone earns. So a young guy who's still earning peanuts (like Uijtdebroecks at Bora for example) can leave for way less money than an expensive rider.

If I remember correctly the compensation is generally (a judge can rule differently technically) around what the athlete would be earning between the moment of the contract termination and the end of the contract. For example for Van Aert it was 668000, the amount he was going to earn in 15 months time when he was at Veranda's Willems.

The problem with this is of course that as a team you can't "win" anymore. Underpay a rider (which would've been a job well done in the past) and they can just leave for a compensation that isn't big enough (like with Uijtdebroecks for example or Van Aert even). Overpay a rider and you're still *** as a team cause they can't get out of it (well you can but you need to pay them off). Athletes always win, teams don't. The law is there to protect the employee of course, which is completely fine for normal employees, but it just does not make sense for rich athletes who have all the power.
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It makes teams less likely to take bets with riders who has great variance. Like a relatively older rider with limited experience on the road who needs to be invested in by the team to get a chance. Like Gee.
 
J

Jan the Man

Mar 12, 2010
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434
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Samamba said:
Yes, how much the compensation is depends on the length of the contract and how much someone earns. So a young guy who's still earning peanuts (like Uijtdebroecks at Bora for example) can leave for way less money than an expensive rider.

If I remember correctly the compensation is generally (a judge can rule differently technically) around what the athlete would be earning between the moment of the contract termination and the end of the contract. For example for Van Aert it was 668000, the amount he was going to earn in 15 months time when he was at Veranda's Willems.

The problem with this is of course that as a team you can't "win" anymore. Underpay a rider (which would've been a job well done in the past) and they can just leave for a compensation that isn't big enough (like with Uijtdebroecks for example or Van Aert even). Overpay a rider and you're still *** as a team cause they can't get out of it (well you can but you need to pay them off). Athletes always win, teams don't. The law is there to protect the employee of course, which is completely fine for normal employees, but it just does not make sense for rich athletes who have all the power.
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is the situation with football different because of the governing laws that Belgium players’ contracts differ or general fifa rules re football contract as its certainly not the case that a player can just buy out a contract by paying the sum due for the remainder of the contract (there are of course ocassionaly release clauses - but that’s a different scenario as they are negotiated pre-contract)

Also Why would a team like Bora not registered in Belgium give contracts that are governed by Belgium law/jurisdiction, taking Cian as an example.
 
Samamba

Samamba

May 10, 2015
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Jan the Man said:
is the situation with football different because of the governing laws that Belgium players’ contracts differ or general fifa rules re football contract as its certainly not the case that a player can just buy out a contract by paying the sum due for the remainder of the contract (there are of course ocassionaly release clauses - but that’s a different scenario as they are negotiated pre-contract)

Also Why would a team like Bora not registered in Belgium give contracts that are governed by Belgium law/jurisdiction, taking Cian as an example.
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Belgian riders are technically employees of Belgian cycling, and thus are contracted via Belgian law. Yes it's weird and complicated. Don't ask me why. Lefevere explained it pretty well in a column a few weeks ago.

Football isn't any different. It's just that FIFA blocked these kind of things by suspending players and teams involved. EU courts have now put and end to this cause FIFA restrics the freedom of work or whatever it's called. They can't block it anymore. It is expected that we will see more football players break their contract or at least threaten with it, and not just in Belgium.
 
Red Rick

Red Rick

Feb 20, 2012
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Samamba said:
Belgian riders are technically employees of Belgian cycling, and thus are contracted via Belgian law. Yes it's weird and complicated. Don't ask me why. Lefevere explained it pretty well in a column a few weeks ago.

Football isn't any different. It's just that FIFA blocked these kind of things by suspending players and teams involved. EU courts have now put and end to this cause FIFA restrics the freedom of work or whatever it's called. They can't block it anymore. It is expected that we will see more football players break their contract or at least threaten with it, and not just in Belgium.
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Labor laws, destroying sports for the good of the common man the richest teams
 
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Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

Feb 20, 2010
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This will end the usual way: Israel will pocket a payout fee from the rider which will be paid by the purchasing team, and he'll line up for the team he wants to go to, and while his reputation may take a short-term hit, the consequences are never really there because the rider themselves don't suffer them with the team basically paying the buyout cost for them.

Much as though it would be funny for the UCI to make him stay at the team he'd signed with originally, and them to staple him to the bench, these disputes always end the same way.

Just another money-grubbing mercenary.
 
Berniece

Berniece

Sep 12, 2022
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Netserk said:
It is already possible. All parties just have to agree.

If Israel would rather keep the current valid contract in force than receiving, say, 10€M in compensation, then Ineos and Gee will have to offer more than that. If they don't want to, then there's no trade that will benefit all parties, and no transfer will happen.
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In cycling the system works very differently than in football. Almost all riders, probably 99%, stay with their team until their contract ends. Buying a rider out of their contract is rare, since most contracts don’t even include buyout clauses. I’ve heard that UAE includes them, but for someone like Logan Currie I doubt there is one.

In football, there’s a formal transfer system with additional mechanisms. For example, when a player is sold for €5M, the original club might keep a 10% resale clause so they benefit if he’s sold again later. Cycling doesn’t have anything like this, and I don’t understand why. Especially for smaller teams, resale or transfer clauses could be a smart way to strengthen their budgets.
 
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