Why is it that Belgian cyclists do not serve out their contracts? Lefevere explains details of Evenepoel’s transfer

“In the past few weeks, I’ve heard this so often: ‘Soudal–Quick-Step has been too soft in the transfer of Remco Evenepoel, they gave in too quickly, they allowed themselves to be pushed around.’ Or the way it comes directly to me: ‘With you, Patrick, it certainly would not have happened.’ Everyone says it with the best intentions, but without much knowledge of the context around contracts,” Lefevere begins his account in a column for Het Nieuwsblad.

“One important question: what have been the big ‘three-party agreements’ in cycling recently? The transfers where riders switch teams before their contract ends? Remco, Maxim Van Gils, and Cian Uijtdebroeks. If we go further back in time, we can add Wout van Aert to the list. Back then, the court had to give a ruling on his move to Jumbo-Visma, but in the end the rider also got what he wanted.”

“The common denominator in all those early transfers is clear: they always involve Belgians,” says the former CEO of Soudal Quick-Step. And that is no coincidence. “Few people know this, but Belgian cyclists are employees. They are officially employed by the Belgian cycling federation. At Soudal Quick-Step we do not pay the wages directly to our Belgian riders, but instead we pay those to the Belgian federation, which then, after withholding payroll tax and social security contributions, passes them on.”

“The consequence of that whole arrangement? Belgian riders fall under ordinary ‘labor law.’ They automatically receive holiday pay and have insurance for workplace accidents. Good for them, but for the teams that means that they are not exactly the cheapest riders.”

“The point I want to make here: if teams employ riders as freelancers – which in many countries is perfectly legal – then you can include real buyout clauses in those contracts and you can ‘cement’ the riders for years. It is no secret that UAE does this. With Belgian riders that is not possible in principle, because as employees they can always rely on the so-called ‘law of ’78,’ based on which the compensation is limited to the salary of the remaining contract period.”

“So when my successor Jurgen Foré says that he ‘had no desire to go to court,’ it should be understood in that context. In a contractual dispute with a Belgian rider, as a team you are not in a strong legal position. The cases of Uijtdebroeks and Van Aert I am less familiar with, but I assume Belgian labor law also ensured at that time that manageable buyouts or compensations came out of it.”

And that is why Evenepoel’s transfer could not be stopped by Soudal Quick-Step. “As I said last week: Remco’s transfer is well deserved. My only remark: I kind of know who made sure everything came together, and those are not necessarily the people standing in the official photo, but no hard feelings. Remco himself will know who he has to thank... and that certainly also includes the Belgian legislator.”