'It's a robbery' – Outraged Cofidis boss threatens vote of no confidence in Plugge over Uijtdebroeks saga

Cofidis general manager Cédric Vasseur has called on Jumbo-Visma manager Richard Plugge to resign as the president of the teams' association (AIGCP) and threatened to encourage a reelection after the Cian Uijtdebroeks transfer saga exploded over the weekend.

On Saturday evening, Jumbo-Visma announced that they had signed Uijtdebroeks to a four-year deal, which sparked outrage from the rider’s current team, Bora-Hansgrohe, who stated that the 20-year-old still had a contract in place with them for the upcoming season.

The rider then released a statement saying that he had terminated the contract and that the UCI was aware. Legal proceedings are still in progress and it’s unclear whether Uijtdebroeks had grounds to break the contract.

Read more: Cian Uijtdebroeks joins Chris Froome for training as Bora demand €1 million from Jumbo-Visma

Plugge is the general manager of the Jumbo-Visma team but was elected as the president of the AIGCP (Association International des Groupes Cyclistes Professionnels) in 2021. According to Vasseur, the Dutchman has compromised his position because in order for a rider transfer to take place, all three parties – both teams and the rider – must make an agreement.

In this case, Bora-Hansgrohe clearly do not agree with the situation but the precise details remain unclear because, even if the UCI has a particular stance on the matter, labour laws within the European Union could take precedent.

For Vasseur, though, the reality is crystal clear, and Plugge has overstepped the line by unsettling the status quo within cycling by signing a rider who still has a contract with another team. The Frenchman told GCN that he would not be as angry if the action came from another team boss, but that Plugge, as the head of the AIGCP, should hold himself to a higher standard.

“My concern is surrounding the AIGCP president. When you have the AIGCP president, who is the guy in charge of the teams’ association, you expect him to respect the rules and the other teams,” Vasseur told GCN during a phone call.

“It’s not about one rider or one team, it’s about respecting the rules. What’s happening today with Bora can happen with Ineos tomorrow or another team. As a team manager, it’s a real struggle to set up a team financially and on a sporting criteria. We have contracts and the UCI rules are clear. The contracts have to be until the end unless all parties agree to split.

“You can be upset, and when this person is the president of the AIGCP, it’s something unbelievable,” he added. “There are no gifts in cycling but when you are elected and you’re representing all the teams and you’re behaving like that, how can other teams trust you? It’s not possible.”

A new election

Vasseur’s concern is that this instance could erode the importance of contracts within cycling, and therefore destabilise the already-weak model that teams live by in order to survive. Whether Cian Uijtdebroeks has cancelled his contract or not, Bora-Hansgrohe still insist that the matter has not been resolved, either legally or financially, and, according to Vasseur, greater care should be taken.

For the Frenchman, the matter comes down to trust, and if Plugge remains in charge of the AIGCP then he will consult other teams at a UCI meeting in Lausane later this week and discuss a possible vote of no confidence in Plugge.

“He’s our president and he’s trying to take a rider. Today it’s a rider from Bora but tomorrow it could be from my team or another one. You’ve just created shit for another team,” Vasseur told GCN.

“It’s not just another team manager. If it was then I wouldn’t react like that. There are some team managers I won't give a single euro to because I know I wouldn’t get it back and that’s how it is, but this behaviour from the president is just unacceptable. How can we trust him? If you want to be the AIGCP president the first thing you need to do is respect the teams. With that mentality, you can’t be the AIGCP president.

“I will talk to the other managers and if they agree then we’ll call for a new election as soon as possible. I don’t want to have anything to do with a president like this. It’s a robbery. If you can’t handle the responsibilities of being president then there’s no room for you.

“We’re all fucked because we’ll arrive at a situation where a rider says ‘the socks aren’t the colour I wanted, so I’m leaving’. That’s not business and we’re talking about millions of euros for each team.”

Vasseur does have faith that the UCI will resolve the situation in the coming days.

“I fully trust the UCI to clear this situation as soon as possible. It’s a big mess on social media and it will have an effect. When I first saw this news on Saturday I thought it was from hoax team accounts. I thought it was some fucking fake Twitter account. Honestly, I’d never even think about doing this to another team.”