"Do they spend it on a nice dinner?" - Patrick Lefevere questions UCI fines policy and blasts "utterly crazy" recent sanctions

Patrick Lefevere has once again shown his most critical side in his latest column published in Nieuwsblad. The storied former Soudal-Quick Step director harshly questioned the UCI’s sanctioning policy, criticised its lack of transparency, and lamented teams’ limited ability to react to decisions by cycling’s world governing body.

Lefevere opened with a question that, he admits, he’s been asking himself for days: what happens to all the money collected through fines. “Who manages that money? Does it go back into cycling, or do they spend it on a nice dinner in Aigle? They could also invest it in Swiss real estate, because the amounts are no longer normal,” he joked.

The Belgian cited as an example the recent team time trial at the Tour Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, where, he says, the UCI collected more than €10,000 in penalties. Lotto were fined 3,000 Swiss francs for arriving one minute late to a pre-start inspection.

“The bikes were on time, but the riders weren’t. And still they received a 3,000-franc fine. Jayco-AlUla and TotalEnergies even had to pay 500 euros more. It’s utterly crazy,” he said.

While he acknowledges that for big-budget outfits like UAE Team Emirates these sums may be manageable, Lefevere reminded that for smaller teams the financial hit is significant. “Fines are imposed on riders or sports directors, but it’s the teams who end up paying them. That was the case in my time at Soudal-Quick Step and I assume it’s the same elsewhere. Accumulating UCI fines over a whole year weighs on any budget,” he stated.

For the former Belgian boss, the UCI is sending a very clear message. “The message in recent weeks is unequivocal: Big Brother is watching you.” As examples, he cited Lorena Wiebes’s exclusion over a bike that exceeded the weight limit by barely twenty grams, or the case of Jan Willem Van Schip. “If you have a strange stem, a strange position on the bike, or even a strange look, you’re out of the race. And for everything else, fines, fines, and more fines,” he criticised.

Lefevere also questioned the recent recognition the UCI received in an Olympic governance audit, where the federation scored top marks for transparency. “I’d recommend the auditors ask SD Worx-Protime how transparent the UCI was with Lorena Wiebes’s exclusion. Or listen to Sram about their experience with gear restrictions. The UCI is like any other international federation: transparency doesn’t exist,” he said.

Another target of his criticism was the International Association of Professional Cycling Teams (AIGCP), the body representing the teams. Lefevere, who chaired the association for several years, believes it has lost clout in the sport’s key debates.

“I understand why teams don’t rebel more against this repressive UCI policy. Or rather, I do understand. The AIGCP no longer has influence,” he explained. According to the Belgian, one problem is the difficulty of representing the interests of WorldTour teams and ProTeams at the same time.

Lefevere recalled that during his tenure at the helm of the association he was a very public figure, but says he always defended teams’ interests firmly. It’s an approach he finds lacking today.

In this regard, he pointed directly at the current AIGCP president, Brent Copeland. “He really wanted to be president and was the first to criticise all his predecessors, but what has improved since he took office? When do you hear him?” he asked.

Safety issues also occupied an important part of his reflection. Lefevere lamented that this season has seen a string of problems such as dangerous barriers or corners placed very close to the finish. He therefore disagreed with recent comments from Copeland claiming that safety is everyone’s responsibility.

“Even politicians no longer use such empty phrases. The message teams should be sending is that they will not tolerate these situations,” he argued. He also believes that initiatives like SafeR, initially driven by the teams, have ended up being controlled by the UCI and ASO.

Finally, Lefevere left a last reflection laced with irony. Although he insisted he has no intention of returning to the AIGCP, he believes today’s cycling misses more combative profiles. “I don’t want to go back under any circumstances, but the teams could use someone with my tact… or rather my lack of tact,” he concluded.