The abandon of Caleb Ewan from the Tour de France stirred up a storm at Lotto Dsnty. The Belgian team's CEO Stéphane Heulot heavily criticized the Australian's actions and lack of motivation, whilst Ewan's agent has criticized Heulot's declarations and demanded an apology - unsuccessfully.
"He knows it, I say it face to face. Everyone met expectations, except Ewan. I'm disappointed with the behavior," Heulot told CyclismActu this morning at the start of stage 17. "I don't want to do my Patrick Lefevere. If Ewan wears the jersey like Julian Alaphilippe, respect. Except that there, he had wanted to book his return plane for two days, it was too scheduled. These are not acceptable behaviors when you have your status, that the guys have just put themselves out of time for him."
With the Belgian team dedicating almost it's entire team to support Ewan, who hasn't won a Grand Tour stage in over two years, it was a huge blow. Ewan had been struggling in the mountains a lot, although he was close to winning one of the sprint stages. Mixed reactions emerged from the team who hasn't been close to succeeding since that day. Although he has a contract until 2024, the possibility of the contract being broken seems likely currently as none of the parties seem satisfied with the situation.
"Maxim Van Gils' performance comforts me in the idea of not remaining on a mono-strategy of the sprint: when a guy crashes you suddenly, we make a convoy of solidarity to Paris? I trusted, I wanted to believe it but I have the impression of being faced with kindergarten children, the whims of a diva," Heulot states. "If I don't say anything, I'm not doing my job."
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