"I hope from the bottom of my heart that it's not true" - BORA - hansgrohe's Vuelta DS on allegation of Cian Uijtdebroeks bullying claims

As more and more details of Cian Uijtdebroeks' fallout with BORA - hansgrohe come to light, serious allegations of bullying against the young Belgian were revealed in the past few days. Jean-Pierre Heynderickx was BORA's sports director at the Vuelta a Espana and has now given his reaction to these allegations.

"I fell off my chair when I heard that. I was completely surprised," Heynderickx has responded in conversation with Het Laatste Nieuws about allegations that there was a separate WhatsApp group during the Vuelta a Espana that the team, minus Uijtdebroeks, used to trash talk and moan about the Belgian. "I'm quite annoyed by this. If it's true, then it happened behind my back and I feel caught out. I would consider that extremely low."

Despite the rumoured turmoil behind the scenes, Uijtdebroeks impressed on the bike and finished 8th overall in the general classification, just seven seconds behind teammate Aleksandr Vlasov. "I wouldn't let it pass and would absolutely want to know who set up that WhatsApp group," Heynderickx insists. "Which riders and staff were part of it and what was said and written. I hope from the bottom of my heart that it's not true."

"Cian is Cian. A top talent who lives extremely and who is driven and passionate about his profession. He looks for all the 'marginal gains', all the extra percentages in the fields of training, nutrition, care. He leaves nothing to chance," he says of Uijtdebroeks. "In December, he already knows exactly what he'll do next season – when he'll go on training camps and so on. I don't think you can blame him for that attitude. On the contrary, he can only be encouraged in this. In a group of 30 people there is often laughter and banter with and about each other. But that doesn't give you the right to bully or finish someone off."