Bruyneel slams former rider turned cycling analyst: "A new master at selling bullshit"

Bruyneel took a lot of riders under his wing during his time. After retiring as a rider at O.N.C.E., he became sports director at US Postal Service in 1999. There, he was the crucial figure in Armstrong's success in his seven Tour de France victories, but he was not impressed with every rider who had a contract with him. He is only too happy to make that clear.

“There’s an ex-pro-cyclist on social media who was one of the dumbest and most clueless riders I’ve ever seen,” the former team manager posts on X. “And now he's trying to teach people about cycling tactics and science of performance. He’s in the running to become the new Master in Selling Bullshit!”

He doesn't say who it is, but the responses were telling. Many people took a guess, and even X-AI Grok gave it a try, but Chris Horner and Phil Gaimon were refuted by the Belgian himself. Floyd Landis and Greg LeMond were also incorrect, but many experts believed Tom Danielson was the guilty party.

The American rode for Discovery Channel under Bruyneel between 2005 and 2007. He is active on X and recently commented on the duel between Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar. It seems that many people appreciate his expertise, but his former sports director is not impressed. Danielson himself quickly realized that it was about him.

He felt compelled to respond to his former sports director. "Oh man, this is super harsh. I’ve got nothing but respect for you running great teams, picking the best riders and coaches, and having a high level of management underneath you. I’m sorry if one or more of my points didn’t sound right and I’m happy to correct my mistake."