Widar ends partnership with coach via WhatsApp message: "That kind of communication is not okay"
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Follow us on GoogleThings keep getting messier at Lotto Dstny. While the team is still working through its split with Maxim Van Gils, a new issue has come to light. According to Het Nieuwsblad, the partnership between coach Danny Stevens and 19-year-old rising star Jarno Widar has come to an abrupt end. What’s unusual about that is how it happened — Widar ended the relationship via WhatsApp. Coach Stevens, however, doubts Widar actually wrote the message himself, saying, "I don’t believe Jarno wrote this message himself."
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Widar is regarded as one of cycling’s most promising young climbers. This year, he won the Giro d’Italia Next Gen, and hehas been compared stylistically to Tadej Pogacar. Earlier in the season, news broke that Widar was considering leaving Lotto Dstny, though the move was ultimately avoided. Now, however, he’s officially ended his collaboration with Stevens, a coach who played a key role in his development.
Text continues below photo.
Jarno Widar wins the Giro d'Italia Next Gen
Stevens: "That kind of communication is not okay"
Stevens responded with surprise. "I didn’t see this coming. Last season, there was no issue," said the trainer, referring to the fact that young riders who turn pro often have to switch trainers. However, according to Stevens, this is the first time such a situation has occurred at Lotto Dstny.
Nevertheless, the abrupt end is unusual. "A few days before I received the infamous message from Jarno, there was no sign of any problem. In his message, Jarno stated that he would end the collaboration with me. In my opinion, that message was not written by Jarno himself. When I replied that I found this kind of communication absolutely unacceptable, I later received a call from someone within the team. I didn’t pick up because I had nothing to say to them. I only wanted clarity from Jarno, but I haven’t heard anything from him since," Stevens told the Belgian newspaper.
Kurt Van de Wouwer, the sporting director at Lotto, stated that the team had nothing to do with the decision. "The decision to part ways with Danny is 100 percent Jarno’s own," he said.
Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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