FDJ - SUEZ manager thinks "we need to be more clever about the money" after hearing about the €1 million offer for Demi Vollering

FDJ - SUEZ general manager Stephen Delcourt has questioned the sustainability of current financial development in female peloton after rumoured €1 million salary proposal from UAE Team ADQ to Demi Vollering. The best women are currently said to be making about half the amount, so this would be a large jump.

"We need to be more clever about the money," he said at a recent team press conference. "The visibility of our sport is not at the same speed as our teams' budgets. We have visibility like this and it’s good for the women on one side, but it’s not good for the long term sustainability of the sport."

"If UAE is crazy and wants to offer one million for Demi, she can go, it would be good if every rider on SD Worx was on a separate team, but it’s not the normal price if we compare with the visibility of our sport. But I’m sure of one thing: Demi with UAE is not the same Demi."

Then there's the topic of setting up a sustainable growth of women's cycling. "Maybe it’s too fast, because before there was nothing, we started at zero, and now the speed of development is really high. All teams in this sport want to be the best, or one of the best, and we need to have the same speed as each other, we push everyone. Now the visibility of the sport is not on the same level as the budget, but step by step it’s getting better, that is important."