Spin Cycle is Escape Collective’s news digest, published every Monday and Friday. You can read it on this website (obviously) or click here to have it delivered straight to your inbox.
Hello!
Welcome back to Spin Cycle,
We're a bit France top-heavy to kick things off today, which isn't a problem. In fact, we really needed to check in with Les Bois™ as they're having a bit of a weird one.
Then it's back to more of your usual programming, think the Tietema crew getting up to hijinks, the UCI being the UCI and an update from the dancing Peter Sagan!
Cofi-dis isn't right 😬
Things may appear fairly harmless over at Cofidis, the benign yet historic French team, but turns out Cédric Vasseur sounds like a bit of a nightmare boss.
A big L'Équipe exposé (having filed away all the bad stuff they were hearing until the filing cabinet burst open and they were forced to publish it) details a number of less-than-conventional workplace behaviours from the boss of the French team.
A poor start to 2024 led Vasseur to take away the snacks laid out for riders post-training, meaning the riders had to instead sneak down to the truck and snaffle them themselves.
But even when they were back in their hotel rooms post-race, snacks in hand, they weren't safe from Vasseur's wrath, as he would send screenshots of race results where no Cofidis rider featured in the top 10 and cover it with laughing emojis, expressing his displeasure.
This negative environment apparently got too much for Bryan Coquard, who was also frustrated at the lack of a proper lead-out, and he nearly retired from the sport last April.
All the while, riders weren't pleased with their new kit supplier for 2024, saying their clothing was too heavy in the rain. Vasseur's response? "You have the clothes you deserve."
Benjamin Thomas was then punished for underperforming in early season races by having his desired race programme changed, which has now led to a situation where the other Cofidis riders don't tell management which races they would like to do just in case they get taken away from them too.
Finally, a coach that had been with the squad for 17 years found out he was being fired when he didn't receive a plane ticket for training camp at the end of last year. Charming!
A counterpoint in Vasseur's defence? They've already taken four victories so far this season, only one short of their total tally for 2024.
Total silence 🤫
The whispering walls of Spin Cycle's imagined office corridors (think damp, falling apart, but retaining an undeniable sense of charm) have heard an interesting tidbit about the potential Ineos-Total merger we reported on last week.
Did we do a good job with this story?
