The Patrick Lefevere Depreciation Thread

[Rackham]

No. He can fire him if he thinks it is grounds for fair dismissal, he can decide not to extend his contract, he can call him out in private if it's affecting his performance, but he absolutely cannot divulge his private life

Well, he clearly can divulge that private life stuff... because he just did.

In a way this is a circular topic because we go right back to what I said yesterday, i.e. none of this matters. There's nothing "inadmissible" "unacceptable" "intolerable" here... because there's no one stopping Lefevere from saying whatever he wants.

I noticed some people on social media throwing around talk of defamation etc. but the legality is very sketchy & probably not a can of worms Alaphilippe & his people want to open.

In the end there's just a basic matter of sense, i.e. relating to the question "does throwing a rider under a bus work as motivation, or demoralization?" There's some José Mourinho modus operandi & school of thought in Patrick Lefevere's tactics, IMO.

 

[scribers]

this is a professional sport. Preparation is absolute to performance and there is nothing private about it.

That said, PL is laying the groundwork for jettisoning this large and underperforming contract. As aliphilippe is popular, it is not so easy to come away lookinf decent from that.

Next stop is a French team who value aliphilippes lack of preparation as much as his wife does. Lol

 

[frisenfruitig]

No. He can fire him if he thinks it is grounds for fair dismissal, he can decide not to extend his contract, he can call him out in private if it's affecting his performance, but he absolutely cannot divulge his private life

Apparently he can, but he probably shouldn't have. I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for Alaphilippe though, I don't believe Lefevere is making all of this up.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

It's 2024, you don't manage your team members like that in public. Give them a rollicking behind closed doors, but not publicly. Once again, cycling, especially in Belgium, is in a time warp......

 

[jmdirt]

I'm not going to pretend Lefevere isn't a pompous ass but if it's true about Alaphilippe partying and drinking then I think he deserves to be called out on it. If you're paying a guy millions and he's out there drinking alcohol and not taking care of himself...

People already said he "likes to party and go wild" when he was still winning big races. If you're winning then you can basically get away with anything, but now that he can't he is getting shat on. And I suspect that just like with Sagan, the criticism is mostly valid.

but if it's true about Alaphilippe partying and drinking

...and if its not?

 

[jmdirt]

I guess I'm a part owner in Tesla then.

Anyway if you think he almost lost a job you don't get it.
He has pretty much any job he wants in cycling until he decides to quit.
How did he almost lose a job??? Even if that were true, how is that a stain against him?
So Remco and everyone else in Soudal almost lost their job too. I don't count it a black mark against Ilan Van Wilder or Mattea Catteneo that they almost lost their jobs

How did he almost lose a job???

Did you follow cycling last fall? Maybe I'm not the one who doesn't get it...

 

[frisenfruitig]

...and if its not?

I think it is pretty telling that Alaphilippe doesn't even deny it. His wife didn't either, she said she never drinks alcohol but doesn't say anything about Alaphilippe.

 

[armchairclimber]

Imagine if Lefevere managed Geraint Thomas.

 

[Berniece]

Imagine if Lefevere managed Geraint Thomas.

Geraint delivered last year though, in 1 GT

 

[tobydawq]

I think it is pretty telling that Alaphilippe doesn't even deny it. His wife didn't either, she said she never drinks alcohol but doesn't say anything about Alaphilippe.

Lefevere has been out and say that Alaphilippe didn't drink alcohol at all in 2023 after his initial interview.

So I don't really know where that leaves us.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Lefevere has been out and say that Alaphilippe didn't drink alcohol at all in 2023 after his initial interview.

So I don't really know where that leaves us.

From what i understand, that's what he told the journalist during the interview. But the journalist chose to change or omit that part.

 

[kingjr]

Noob question: Is there any similarities between Lefevere and Vaughters? Both seems a bit like elephants in a porcelain shop.

Lefevere is likeable. Not all the time, perhaps, but in general.

Edit: Sorry, I read that as "differences" for some reason. My bad.

 

[red_flanders]

Noob question: Is there any similarities between Lefevere and Vaughters? Both seems a bit like elephants in a porcelain shop.

Lefevere is likeable. Not all the time, perhaps, but in general.

Edit: Sorry, I read that as "differences" for some reason. My bad.

They seem like wildly different, if not polar opposite characters to me. Lefevere is very genuine, he is who he is. He seems like a straight shooter to the point of being a clown at times. Some filter is good. But I'll take the straight shooter 100 times out of 100.

Vaughters seems entirely full of it. Don't like him. Feels like everything is considered for effect, he's often if not always posturing, there's a total lack of candor and openness. Feels like an fairly insecure guy.

 

[The fridge in the blue trees]

She is known as arrogant, and by taking advantage of her job as a journalist/reporter and organizer of the Tour femmes. An unhealthy situation. If she also has a negative influence on her husband and his cycling performance, then the employer who pays out 2 millions in wages every year plus all the support, can rightly respond. If private life weighs heavily on an employee's working life, the employer must address the employee about this. It was then up to Rousse to remain silent and do something about the situation. After numerous warnings. The fact that she reacts this way, convinces me that nothing will change and that Ala will not achieve anything during his final year. But he will get his two million. Only to change teams afterwards and, like Sagan and Froome, perform at an embarrassing level for a few more years.

She's known as arrogant? By whom?
Taking advantage of her job? To do what? What does this even mean? She has a job which she's doing...
Why is that a unhealthy situation? What is actually, that she has a job?
IF she has a negative influence on Alaphilippes performance, the employer still has to stay out of his private life. Or do you plan to install cameras in your house so that your employer can check if there's anything that might negatively affect your work?
It was up to Rousse (the women) to remain silent after PL (the man) said something. So women should let their husban's bosses denigrate them without responding?
What should Rousse do about the situation while remaining silent?
What were the numerous warnings?

Amazing how you managed to package so much nonsense in a single post.

 

[Mayomaniac]

From what i understand, that's what he told the journalist during the interview. But the journalist chose to change or omit that part.

Frankly that seems to happen on a regular basis when it comes to him (and Evenepoel). Things get taken out of context and turned into clickbait headlines...

 

[Mayomaniac]

No tongue?

Just wait until you hear about what Lefevre tried a few drinks later...

 

[Volderke]

Another PL interview taken out of context, but nevertheless, PL made PR mistakes and he finally admitted he should have not said what he said.

The interview was a 3-hour talk with a magazine, and (his own words), the JA saga only took 3 minutes of the interview and PL probably just mentioned the history of JA's bad years to talk about this year's ambitions, not so much to throw mud but PL is just to honest and blunt and sometimes forget journalists can easily make up a good story out of these little details, even if they are years old. The fun part is where both Marion Rousse and P. Gilbert's wife were adding fuel to the fire. Both JA and PG probably already told their wifes to stop posting on their socials...

 

[Lequack]

Patrick Lefevere walks back criticism of Julian Alaphilippe​

'My Dutch is not always well understood' Soudal-Quickstep boss claims

Patrick Lefevere walks back criticism of Julian Alaphilippe

'My Dutch is not always well understood' Soudal-Quickstep boss claims

www.cyclingnews.com

As I said, everything is fine!

 

[CyclistAbi]

Meh.

 

[red_flanders]

Patrick Lefevere walks back criticism of Julian Alaphilippe​

'My Dutch is not always well understood' Soudal-Quickstep boss claims

Patrick Lefevere walks back criticism of Julian Alaphilippe

'My Dutch is not always well understood' Soudal-Quickstep boss claims

www.cyclingnews.com

As I said, everything is fine!

Hmm. I'll walk back my comments that he's a straight shooter. Yeah Pat, it's the language barrier, that's the problem.

 

[Unchained]

Patrick Lefevere walks back criticism of Julian Alaphilippe​

'My Dutch is not always well understood' Soudal-Quickstep boss claims

Patrick Lefevere walks back criticism of Julian Alaphilippe

'My Dutch is not always well understood' Soudal-Quickstep boss claims

www.cyclingnews.com

As I said, everything is fine!

Don't know the timeline of this photo but will venture an educated guess on what chubby Flanders Santa is usually flapping on about.. Do I think this is a recent photo and fat Pat invited Julian for a glass of bubbles to say sorry for going too far? I would guess definitely not.. Instead I would estimate the date of the picture to be in an up cycle phase for poopy Pat, let's say after JA won the World Championship.. If you are high profile and want to live a what have you done for me lately life, cool but don't take cheap shots at a guy and his family that are currently under contract.. Just plain tasteless and petty

 

[Unchained]

Hmm. I'll walk back my comments that he's a straight shooter. Yeah Pat, it's the language barrier, that's the problem.

Historically hundreds of recorded comments both in Flams and Dutch and he is misunderstood!! There are no subtitles when he is on TV in Holland.. The guy is a bloated tool

 

[armchairclimber]

In the words of Bernie Taupin.... sorry seems to be the hardest word.

 

[scribers]

Patrick Lefevere walks back criticism of Julian Alaphilippe​

'My Dutch is not always well understood' Soudal-Quickstep boss claims

Patrick Lefevere walks back criticism of Julian Alaphilippe

'My Dutch is not always well understood' Soudal-Quickstep boss claims

www.cyclingnews.com

As I said, everything is fine!

This explains everything now

 

[Oldermanish]

this is a professional sport. Preparation is absolute to performance and there is nothing private about it.

That said, PL is laying the groundwork for jettisoning this large and underperforming contract. As aliphilippe is popular, it is not so easy to come away lookinf decent from that.

Next stop is a French team who value aliphilippes lack of preparation as much as his wife does. Lol

Apparently he can, but he probably shouldn't have. I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for Alaphilippe though, I don't believe Lefevere is making all of this up.

If he thinks he's generating a public or legal justification for jettisoning one of his most productive riders he'd better have some serious evidence of Julian's disregard. Cyclists lack a credible union but most pro sports wouldn't allow this sort of serious public criticism without potential litigation. It not only affects the rider's current stature but can play to future earnings and current sponsor contracts. I'd be totally p*ssed if I was Julian and it was part of Patrick's usual "motivation". No sh*t he's "walking back" on his comments....he could owe Julian a serious amount of lost sponsor income beyond his current contract obligations.

This is why the Medieval overlords that run the sport are so expendable if cycling could truly grow. Even the best recruits (save for Remco) get shaken down for a cash kickback to the DS to be on the big Show race rosters. The Euros have done it for years and it's the equivalent of an agent's finders fee to pay to play on the team you'd hoped cared about your future. They "own" the riders and Patrick treated the public to how the game is usually played behind the scenes.