Lefevere ‘underestimated’ ladies’s workforce, has excessive hopes for Tour de France Femmes
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The AG Insurance coverage-Soudal-Fast Step workforce has a major contender for the upcoming Tour de France Femmes in Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and part-owner Patrick Lefevere has excessive hopes for the Continental ladies’s workforce.
Lefevere infamously mentioned in 2021 that he would not become involved in ladies’s biking as a result of he wasn’t a charity. Then, three months later he determined to again the NXTG workforce for 2022. The workforce added AG Insurance coverage that 12 months, then got here beneath the Soudal-Quickstep banner this season.
On the workforce’s Tour de France Femmes presentation in Berlare, Lefevere clarified these feedback.
“As soon as I mentioned: we aren’t the OMCW. With that, I primarily pointed to the truth that these ladies solely bought paid just a few hundred euros a month. That was not acceptable,” Lefevere defined, in line with Sporza.
“That is why now all of them have a good minimal wage. Our working finances is round 2 million euros.”
He added that he underestimated the complexities of operating a ladies’s programme.
“It is utterly completely different from the boys’s peloton,” Lefevere mentioned. “There may be actually rather a lot concerned, I underestimated it a bit. We actually did not need any complaints by way of materials: that is why the workforce has the identical vehicles, clothes, bikes and capabilities as with the boys.”
AG Insurance coverage-Soudal-Quickstep has made nice strides this season, and together with bringing in Moolman-Pasio, they’ve gotten sturdy performances out of riders like Belgian Justine Ghekiere and Kiwi Ally Wollaston.
Patrick Lefevere is glad with the workforce’s progress. “We’re positively not doing badly. It is a completely different method from the boys’s workforce, the place we win tremendously. In the meantime, our ladies’s workforce has grown from an beginner group to the highest.
The workforce heads to the Tour de France Femmes with Moolman-Pasio because the chief, supported by Ghekiere, veterans Romy Kasper, Lotta Henttala, younger riders Julia Borgström, Spanish time trial champion Mireia Benito and Maaike Boogaard.
“Our workforce is promising: we will compete on any terrain,” Lefevere mentioned. “Final 12 months there have been numerous crashes, hopefully, the ladies will probably be spared from that this 12 months.”
Moolman-Pasio raced the Tour de France for SD Worx final 12 months however pulled out earlier than the ultimate stage after falling unwell. Lefevere sees her as an actual challenger to her former teammate Demi Vollering and defending Tour champion Annemiek van Vleuten.
“Her stage will not be far under that of Van Vleuten and Vollering,” Lefevere mentioned.
“You want some luck, however you must drive that. You possibly can’t give attention to these two high riders.”
To compete with SD Worx, nonetheless, AG Insurance coverage-Soudal-Quickstep might want to reinforce the roster however have already agreed on a contract extension with Moolman-Pasio.
“Ashleigh is essential for us. She feels superb within the workforce and feels her presence is essential for us. She has additionally prolonged her contract,” he mentioned.
“We now have to attempt to keep inside finances. I am co-owner right here, so then I’ve to pay for issues out of my very own pocket, and at my age, I do not like that very a lot. We now have a scouting program and two youth groups, so there are some potentialities.”
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