Demi Vollering “does not cost much compared to his talent”assured AFP Stephen Delcourt, general manager of the FDJ-SUEZ team, who announced the recruitment of the Dutch star on Monday.
“No crazy move for Demi” according to the manager
Without wanting to give a figure on the amount of the two-year contract signed by the winner of the 2023 Tour de France, he mentioned “a comfortable salary compared to what she deserves”.
“It doesn’t cost much compared to his talent. I offered what I could offer without going beyond my limits, without asking my sponsors for more. I told myself that if she came for the money, she would go to UAE. And if she came for the overall project, we were able to make a good offer”added Mr. Delcourt, while, according to Dutch media, the UAE team would have offered up to one million per year to the Dutchwoman to recruit her.
“We managed to come to an agreement quite quickly. There was no need to align with competitors. I am responsible for the team's budget. The team belongs to me and I can't play with that.”he developed.
Mr. Delcourt estimated that there was “no inevitability” while several French team bosses in the men's peloton have sounded the alarm in recent weeks about a difficult economic context for them.
“I know what they are going through. Partner renewals for French companies are much harder than renewals for foreign companies. The context is very gloomy. But for me, there is no inevitability. We must continue to fight.”he proclaimed, adding that “the advantage when you sign with a French company is that you know that you will be paid on time and that you will have salary guarantees”.
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“Women's Cycling is not at the same maturity as men's cycling. The amounts are not comparable. There was no crazy move for Demi, because she was perhaps reasonable and understood what we wanted but also because we are in a sport still in development”he added.
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