Well, now that i get the facts straight i will give my personal opinion about all this mess!
First things first
The problem was already being built with bad calls from Deceunick before Giros day 1!
They had 2 young guys in a team with the qualities to be GC contenders , for this discussion it doesn't matter who has greater potential, as any young professional they have personal ambitions and if in the past was obvious for everyone that João was going to be Remco's domestique, even for them both, the crash last year and the amazing result of João at last year Giro changed in some extent that "status quo".
Now that you have to make a decision for leader of the team you must be prety clear about it with everyone, the team, the fans, the media.
This was not done, sending unclear and confusiong messages in the following days, at least for the media and fans
Lefevere states shortly before the start of the giro that despite Remco´s presence on the team the leader would be João
Few days before the start of the Giro Lefevere states that both will have a shot and that Remco will be protected and send the jersey numbers, they chose to give nº 91 to Remco and nº 92 to João (everyone knows that usually cycling WT teams give the lowest number to their teams leader). So another confusing message, specially for the 2 riders
Then Lefevere states that João will not make a new contract with Deceunick blaming essencialy João Agent ( btw Lefevere always trash riders agents) and that he will be leaving the team in 2022. He also states that for him, both are leaders and the road will decide which one works for whom.
So day 1 and there are already conditions for the perfect storm to gather but let's keep ongoing:
- Stage 1 and João stays 2 seconds ahead of Remco
- Stage 2 and João and Remco still with the co leadership on Lefevere previous words, and in the first bonus intermediate sprint we saw deceunicks convoy launching Remcos and not João (for anyone who doubts it and think that was a thing of the moment and that Remco only grab the opportunity just watch the available video from Eurosport highlights stage 2 and pause it at 1:51 where it's clear that Deceunick is ready to launch remco for the sprint). So another problem, because if joao is 2 seconds ahead of remco why deceunick chose to launch remco instead of João? Maybe João by then is starting to be a little bit confused and frustrated with the lack of respect
- Stage 4 and both are tied in GC and so accordingly Lefevere both should be protected. João starts being dropped from the GC group riders at 4,7km from the finish line and being a leader is all alone! (once more available at Eurosport highlights stage 4 video where you can pause it at 2:33 to have a clear picture of what i said). Where are the domestiques for João, shouldn't anyone from deceunick be at all times with the leader? Sure they arrive later on with João, but he was alone for more than 1,5km (it reminds me something). Another brick on the wall in João head at this moment
- Stage 11 it's obvious to everyone by now that João must work for Remco since stage 4 and untill now he was doing it flawlessly but after the 1 sterrato section the entire deceunick team with the exception of João, blow themselves up closing the gap created by Ineos and now remco is starting to be left behind with no one around him, in the meantime João is having good feelings, we can see that he is always very well positioned in the main group and it seems that he is riding easy, however he should be worried about where the hell is remco because by then i don't believe that João doesn't know that he is not on his wheel! All hell went loose then after the 3rd section of sterrato because as soon as the riders enter the last section we can clearly see remco staying way behind and only then we see João talking on radio and only then he starts to slow down so remco can catch his wheel. After all the soap opera in the next few minutes between them and Deceunicks car João finaly starts to pull Remco untill the finish line and it's only fair to emphasize that he did and amazing job doing it and saving remcos hopes of get a Top3 at this Giro. Was he the best domestique? No he wasn't! Did he obey the orders when sent? Yes he did!
Has Deceunick treated João in the best way possible? Maybe not! Should Remco pay for this? Surely not!
That's the way i see it