12/12/2023

BORA - hansgrohe DS Bernhard Eisel denies 'bullying' allegations and believes Cian Uijtdebroeks got all the support possible: "We did everything we could for him"

Thijs Zonneveld has shared that several sources told him that within BORA - hansgrohe there was not much liking to Cian Uijtdebroeks and that during the Vuelta a Espana even a chat group was created to talk about him. Quickly this was denied by team DS Bernhard Eisel, who argues the situation was the exact opposite.

“100% I can deny that. Definitely not. Especially from my side, and the the riders’ side. He had a team that looked after him, Aleks Vlasov had his team that looked after him and, from my point of view, they did an incredible job to protect him," Eisel responded to GCN this Tuesday morning. The allegations are of serious misconduct within the team and quite a lot of criticism emerged on social media - although there is, at the time being, no concrete evidence. "We did everything we could for him. I have to deny that one. It’s that simple. 100% no."

Thijs Zonneveld reveals that Cian Uijtdebroeks may have been a victim of bullying at BORA - hansgrohe: "During the Vuelta there was also an 'Anti-Cian' app group"

Staff of BORA - hansgrohe and Team Visma | Lease a Bike have and will certainly continue to be questioned over the coming days about every single possible detail to try to get to the bottom of the situation. Uijtdebroeks' sudden departure is a sign that the situation with the German team was bad, but it is not known how much it has deteriorated. Eisel, who has led Uijtdebroeks during the Vuelta itself defends the team and states that there was in fact extra support given to Uijtdebroeks.

“Honestly I’m tired of the whole thing," the former pro admits. "I would say it was three times the effort for him than it was for Aleks in the role. If that’s not enough then it’s going to be difficult. From a professional standpoint in support, it was 100 per cent for him in the race. I’m not willing to add more. We did what we could and that’s it.”

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Now however many more are getting involved, as a possible lawsuit is in hands, as well as the possibility of a €1 million euros payout. The teams are building their arguments whilst the UCI has not taken a decision but is closely monitoring it.

“There’s not much I can say about it. We have our statement that he’s under contract with us and Jumbo have said they’ve signed him. It will come down to court. That’s where we are at the moment," Eisel concluded.