When Orbea sponsored b&b they also had no one if I remember correctly. So I don't think it's a given they will.
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When Orbea sponsored b&b they also had no one if I remember correctly. So I don't think it's a given they will.
It's getting more interesting. Press release by the Ridley CEO:
“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.”
“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. 2 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 Pro Tour worthy. There would be doubts, especially about the new time trial bike, the new Dean.”
“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 and attentive reader understands that there is more to it. Just before the termination of the current agreement with Ridley, Lotto-Dstny announces the break-up and renewal of the agreement with Arnaud De Lie. This obviously required a budget, more budget than anticipated. And that is where the shoe is pinched.”
“The new Chairman of the Board of Directors (Karel Van Eetvelt), for whom I have a lot of respect as well as for his predecessor Jannie Haek, made it clear to me that further cooperation would be possible if we made an extra financial effort (read extra sponsorship would give). The health of our company has always been sacred to me and a guiding principle in my policy. What was asked could jeopardize our future, something I did not want.”
“In the search for extra budget, it was therefore decided to unilaterally break the current agreement and to work with a new partner who is not even active in the World Tour!”
“It should be clear that it was not the technological aspect that was important in the choice, but the financial contribution of the new partner. I deeply regret that for financial reasons a long-standing and successful collaboration is being unilaterally terminated. On the part of the Lotto-Dstny Management, people forget what investments we made again this year so that the riders could also compete at the highest level next year on more than competitive material! This disloyalty and reputational damage and the lost investments will have to be compensated. It is a pity that I also have to end with a financial aspect, but as I said, the future of my company and its employees are sacred to me.”
"Ridley therefore looks forward to the proposals that the Management and or the Board of Directors of Lotto-Dstny will come up with to repair the damage suffered."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My take:
The CEO ofcourse defends his products and claims it's only about the money and not the bikes.
There were rumours Arnaud De Lie gave an OK for Orbea, but whether De Lie found Orbea better or simply just as good, I don't know. I also heard rumours about the slow delivery of the TT bike. It's clear Orbea has good enough bikes and is sponsoring more and that's the main take-away. At the one hand I find it a bad outcome to lose a WT team as a bike manufacturer who wants to sell high-end bikes, but at the other hand it's ofcourse a risky trade-off and more sponsoring needs to be paid by selling more bikes. It must be that Orbea has a bigger market / more money to play this game, or simply because Ridley was so spoiled by the current deal that they weren't mentally ready to invest more (the current sponsor deal with Ridley was made by Lelangue, and for the team it's not exactly the best deal).
What I find a bit silly is the CEO mentioning Orbea as a new partner 'who is not even active in the World Tour', as to suggest that's a sign of inferiority.
“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.”
“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. 2 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 Pro Tour worthy. There would be doubts, especially about the new time trial bike, the new Dean.”
“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 and attentive reader understands that there is more to it. Just before the termination of the current agreement with Ridley, Lotto-Dstny announces the break-up and renewal of the agreement with Arnaud De Lie. This obviously required a budget, more budget than anticipated. And that is where the shoe is pinched.”
“The new Chairman of the Board of Directors (Karel Van Eetvelt), for whom I have a lot of respect as well as for his predecessor Jannie Haek, made it clear to me that further cooperation would be possible if we made an extra financial effort (read extra sponsorship would give). The health of our company has always been sacred to me and a guiding principle in my policy. What was asked could jeopardize our future, something I did not want.”
“In the search for extra budget, it was therefore decided to unilaterally break the current agreement and to work with a new partner who is not even active in the World Tour!”
“It should be clear that it was not the technological aspect that was important in the choice, but the financial contribution of the new partner. I deeply regret that for financial reasons a long-standing and successful collaboration is being unilaterally terminated. On the part of the Lotto-Dstny Management, people forget what investments we made again this year so that the riders could also compete at the highest level next year on more than competitive material! This disloyalty and reputational damage and the lost investments will have to be compensated. It is a pity that I also have to end with a financial aspect, but as I said, the future of my company and its employees are sacred to me.”
"Ridley therefore looks forward to the proposals that the Management and or the Board of Directors of Lotto-Dstny will come up with to repair the damage suffered."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My take:
The CEO ofcourse defends his products and claims it's only about the money and not the bikes.
There were rumours Arnaud De Lie gave an OK for Orbea, but whether De Lie found Orbea better or simply just as good, I don't know. I also heard rumours about the slow delivery of the TT bike. It's clear Orbea has good enough bikes and is sponsoring more and that's the main take-away. At the one hand I find it a bad outcome to lose a WT team as a bike manufacturer who wants to sell high-end bikes, but at the other hand it's ofcourse a risky trade-off and more sponsoring needs to be paid by selling more bikes. It must be that Orbea has a bigger market / more money to play this game, or simply because Ridley was so spoiled by the current deal that they weren't mentally ready to invest more (the current sponsor deal with Ridley was made by Lelangue, and for the team it's not exactly the best deal).
What I find a bit silly is the CEO mentioning Orbea as a new partner 'who is not even active in the World Tour', as to suggest that's a sign of inferiority.
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I guess it's somewhat understandable that he is disappointed about he decision, but he should have better throught about it another day, and throw this statement in the "wastepaper basket" instead. This basically looks as unprofessional as it can get.
Lol, what a crybaby (not something I usually call people that easily).
Ridley is "not even active in the World Tour" either for what it's worth.
Technically until the end of the year, unless Lotto switches to Orbea and paint them as Ridleys from now on
Technically until the end of the year, unless Lotto switches to Orbea and paint them as Ridleys from now on
Nope.
Technically until the end of the year, unless Lotto switches to Orbea and paint them as Ridleys from now on
Lotto is not on the World Tour.
Agree, and I didn't say anything contrary.
they are active in the World Tour, believe it or not! Ridley bikes see World tour action and are even winning World Tour races.
I admit I forgot they aren't a WT team anymore, but practically they ride more or less the same program, and they are (hopefully) aiming for WT status again.
So it's in this context that the CEO's statement has to be seen, but it's still ridiculous. It's like saying you play in the highest soccer division and constantly dangling near the bottom of the table, while saying the top team in the second division is probably inferior because they play second division.
Hey, Euskaltel is also active in the World Tour!
I'm sure Segaert was happy to get better equipment, but I doubt that comment was anything more than a standard sponsor plug. He probably wasn't having dreams about Ridley bikes every night.
I do however have dreams involving the Orbea Orca all the time.
I'm sure Segaert was happy to get better equipment, but I doubt that comment was anything more than a standard sponsor plug. He probably wasn't having dreams about Ridley bikes every night.
I do however have dreams involving the Orbea Orca all the time.
The slow delivery of the TT bike is true. The new bike has been finished for more than a year, lots of riders had to wait till last month before getting it, one of them Florian Vermeersch cause they didn't have one in their size.
I get why he's frustrated, but it's a weird and unprofessional statement. Complaining about lies and unprofessional-ism from others by doing it yourself is just dumb. I don't get why this whole statement is based on pretending like Lotto/Heulot is saying it has anything to do with the material and not financial gain, when Heulot literally told the press yesterday the opposite, he admitted it's because of financial reasons. Not a single Lotto member has told publicly that Ridley bikes are bad.
Ridley simply isn't big enough. Their annual revenue is around 45M, that's a tenth of Orbea's annual revenue. And Lotto needs more budget, everyone knows that. On the other hand there was a contract, but as far as I know it was the shittiest contract ever with Ridley paying 0 euros to the team and only delivering them bikes. Ridley was finessing Lotto, they used covid as an excuse while the bike market boomed and then used Lotto's bad position of not being popular to keep that in place.
I agree the CEO's statement is not professional. He's clearly too close to the company not to get emotional and it's clear he is disappointed, angry, frustrated, feeling revenge, jealousy, disdain, ...
I think he mentioning the quality is because of the rumours that it was the reason for splitting. I don't know where the rumours come from and how much of it is true, and as I have never ever ridden on a Ridley (and not dreaming of riding one!), I can't speak personally about potential quality deficits. I don't even know anyone in my club riding on a (recent) Ridley...! Most people here ride either Canyon, Scott, Specialized, the odd Cannondale, BMC, Cervelo, Cube...
Ther rumours are there and I can tell you that some are true (there was definitely some unhappyness about the bikes), but they never said it publicly, it was just the press talking. Lotto can't control the press (even tho they probably leak things).
That being said, Orbea is way bigger so their financial input will probably be significant, there are some doubts about their current bikes too. The previous Orca was a beauty imo, but their newly launched Orca is a pure climbing bike, they do the opposite of other brands, not making the all in aero + light bike. The problem with that is that their Aero bike isn't seen as a top one either, definitely not in the wind tunnel. I also don't think Euskatel riders like to ride it (maybe @Samu Cuenca can say more about this). Their TT bikes is from 2020, I doubt they have been focussing on that a lot. So I have some doubts and questions honestly. They do have a way bigger budget, and maybe this step is proof from Orbea they will be investing way more in the future in new bikes.
maybe Ridley can sign with Soudal-Quickstep if/when they'll lose Remco/Specialized
Lotto-Dstny suspends another DS.
m.nieuwsblad.be
Ploegleider van Lotto Dstny die seingever aanreed met volgwagen stopt er na 40 jaar mee: “Ik maakte een grote fout”
Ploegleider Carl Roes van het Lotto Dstny Development Team heeft spijt van z’n gedrag afgelopen zondag in de GP Rik Van Looy. Hij reed een seingever aan toen die hem de weg versperde. Roes werd op non-actief gezet en kapt er nu zelf mee. “Ik maakte een grote inschattingsfout en gaf prioriteit...
m.nieuwsblad.be
Lotto-Dstny suspends another DS.
Ploegleider van Lotto Dstny die seingever aanreed met volgwagen stopt er na 40 jaar mee: “Ik maakte een grote fout”
Ploegleider Carl Roes van het Lotto Dstny Development Team heeft spijt van z’n gedrag afgelopen zondag in de GP Rik Van Looy. Hij reed een seingever aan toen die hem de weg versperde. Roes werd op non-actief gezet en kapt er nu zelf mee. “Ik maakte een grote inschattingsfout en gaf prioriteit...
Can you give a quick summary of what happened?
.
There was a jail worthy offense: The journalist called Rasmus Bøgh Wallin Norwegian. Also a Lotto DS drove into a race marshal and then just continued without checking on him.
There was a jail worthy offense: The journalist called Rasmus Bøgh Wallin Norwegian. Also a Lotto DS drove into a race marshal and then just continued without checking on him.
I watched this on YouTube, a Lotto Dstny Devo team DS drove the team car in this classic, and hit a marshal.
The marshal fell to the ground. I don’t know if the team DS noticed that the marshal fell to the ground.
The DS, in any case, left the site, and continued his race. He didn’t help the marshal. Either because he didn’t notice what happened, or because he (DS) thought that going on with the race was more important, at that moment, than checking if the marshal was injured.
How do you see the incident?…
The marshal fell to the ground. I don’t know if the team DS noticed that the marshal fell to the ground.
The DS, in any case, left the site, and continued his race. He didn’t help the marshal. Either because he didn’t notice what happened, or because he (DS) thought that going on with the race was more important, at that moment, than checking if the marshal was injured.
How do you see the incident?…
Selectie Lotto-Dstny klaar voor 2024, vraag is vooral welke grote ronde Arnaud De Lie gaat rijden
Het huiswerk van Lotto-Dstny richting 2024 is af. Op een opportuniteit na is de selectie rond. Het Belgische team telt vijf vertrekkers en vier aanwinsten. Vraag is vooral nog welke grote ronde Arnaud De Lie (21) zal rijden.
www.hln.be
the team is complete except if an opportunity presents itself the coming days/weeks
De Lie might do a GT and that would be TdF but will depend of it's parcours
They might skip il Girop again no decision taken
De Lie will have more success at the Giro then Tour - then again, Lotto could send Lenny VE & some stage hunters to the Giro, if De Lie's Spring races cause problems for doing the Giro.
De Lie has shown so far at the three WT stage races he did in 2023, being PN, Renewi nad Guangxi that he would not be competitive in a full peleton sprint at the TDF - He needs a punchy finish which did not occur in the 2023 TDF - Depending on parcours, the Vuelta may be the best option in 2024.
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