Pogacar's agent may have led to Maxim van Gils' contract breaking: "Alex Carrera drove him crazy" Laurens Ten Dam argues

Maxim van Gils will leave Lotto Dstny in the coming days or weeks officially. He will join a World Tour team - either Astana Qazaqstan Team or Red Bull - BORA - hangrohe - most likely but the nature of his contract breaking is still not fully comprehended. Former road pro, now gravel racer and podcaster Laurens Ten Dam absolutely believes Alex Carrera is behind all this strange activity.

"Last year he was just a good rider. He started strong this year in Mallorca and then signed a new contract in March. That would earn him a little over half a million a year, but Van Gils was just among the best three or four riders in the rankings at the end of April," Ten Dam said in the Live Slow Ride Fast podcast. "He kept improving, and Alex Carrera drove him crazy, telling him he should earn one or two million".

Carrera is van Gils' agent but also that of riders such as Tadej Pogacar and Cian Uijtdebroeks who had as well a very controversial contract breaking about a year ago exactly. There is the notion that van Gils' contract would be around €600.000 a year after he renewed earlier this year, and that even paying the €1.2 million that he would be fined, this could be compensated if he grabs a millionaire contract with another team.

Today Het Laatste Nieuws reported that Astana, who have an incoming Chinese sponsor and a big budget increase, could fill this gap. "I think that agent just went to Stephane Heulot (Lotto Dstny manager, ed.) and announced that he is now taking care of Van Gils' business. There must have been a stunned reaction; they had struck a nice deal at Lotto Dstny for a good amount of money," Ten Dam believes. "How frustrating this must be for that, Heulot. All the top guys extended their contracts, and then at the very end of the season, that boy leaves?"

"Still, it's stupid, especially when you sign a new contract after a phenomenal year. It's about a lot of money, I know. For Heulot, surely it will be about giving your word. A man is a man; a word is a word. Then, you don't whine when a flamboyant new agent shows up," he concluded.

Lotto Dstny will lose one of it's leaders, one of the most consistent classics riders of the 2024 season who won among others Eschborn-Frankfurt... They are growing a big Belgian group of riders developed in their youth ranks including Arnaud De Lie, Lennert van Eetvelt and Alec Segaert as well, but such a move endangers projects such as Lotto who are seeing riders just snatched whilst mid-contract to join wealthier teams.