Wout van Aert's lawyer expects UCI to allow rider to race in 2019
13 November 2018 03:03
Cyclo-cross world champion Wout van Aert's lawyer, Walter Van Steenbrugge, told Belgian sports website sporza.be on Monday that he believes that cycling's governing body, the UCI, will give his client permission to race the 2019 road season. Van Aert unilaterally terminated his contract with Sniper Cycling – the owning company of the Veranda's Willems-Crelan team, with whom Van Aert raced on the road this season – on September 17 this year. The 24-year-old Belgian had made clear his unhappiness at the news that his team – who he was originally also contracted to ride for in 2019 – was set to merge with the Dutch Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij outfit for next season. Van Aert said in August that he'd never been consulted about the merger, and that "enough is enough".ADVERTISEMENT Van Aert already has a contract to ride with WorldTour team Jumbo – the current LottoNL-Jumbo outfit – for 2020, but with no road team for 2019, having terminated his contract, Team Jumbo are allegedly interested in taking Van Aert on a year earlier than planned. Sniper Cycling, meanwhile, are asking for compensation – of €500,000, according to Het Laatste Nieuws – in return for Van Aert having terminated his contract, which in turn could block the Belgian from signing with a new team if an agreement cannot be reached. "Wout has broken his contract through 'termination for cause'. There can be no question of compensation," Van Aert's manager, Jef Van den Bosch, told Het Laatste Nieuws on Monday.
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