Internal drama within Lotto Soudal's management after Lelangue's "quickly leave the sinking ship"

Lotto Soudal seems to be a decisive period, where their capacity to remain at World Tour level seems to be an impossible mission to accomplish. Although some competitive aspects will remain the same, team CEO John Lelangue has already announced his departure from the team, but it happen without unsatisfaction.

In a message on Twitter, Marc Sargeant - Lotto's manager from 2003 to 2021 - said: "Imagine you get a beautiful ship, it was well maintained for decades and yet you start to make a hole in it, but if it is sinking, first get another boat and then quickly leave the sinking ship."

This message is assumed to be directly pointed at John Lelangue, who took over the role of CEO of the Belgian team in 2018, but has recently announced his departure following the team's inability to remain at World Tour level. Although the team is likely to receive an invitation to all World Tour events in the 2023 season due to the points obtained this year, the UCI rankings system in place was not to the liking of Lelangue.

With new management on the day, a report by Sporza also mentions the possibility of other riders departing the team amidst a complicated period, with the relegation also meaning some existing contracts may possibly be broken.