Ten young women risked their careers and emotional well-being to come forward. This doesn’t happen over a parking spot. The cycling media is being responsible by not airing the specific details of their complaints, if they are publicly known. Your desire to know more doesn’t matter, you’re not the judge in this case. The UCI was and the outrage from people inside the cycling world makes it pretty clear that the sentence doesn’t match the crime.
The things you are saying simply don’t make sense.
How are you declaring the sentence does not match the crime, if you don’t know what the crime was? And, for that matter…it would seem to appear that nobody knows what the crimes were except for the people that made the sentencing decision. Am I wrong in this?
I’m sorry, but this is just silly.
“The UCI Ethics Commission began investigating Van Gansen’s actions in 2019 following allegations of abuse and harassment, including allegations of sexual remarks, verbal aggression, body shaming and mental abuse. Due to the number of accusations over multiple years, the UCI hired Sport Resolutions, an external agency, to investigate the accusations.”
Read the linked articles again. Several examples of the abuse allegations that are much more serious than the slap. I don’t know what else you’re looking for.
The article linked here has two stories in particular, maybe you missed it:
If you read the rouleur article, I think it makes it pretty clear what he did. Although it is impossible to know what exactly the UCI “investigated”.
TL:DR:
So the dude is the manager of a small women’s team. Which means he decides everything. Who gets a contract(extension), the salary, what races each rider takes part in. Other things like accommodation travel. Everything. He is the sole person to determine these women’s future.
So then he makes all kinds of inappropriate comments towards the women. Many of them sexually loaded, plus plenty of verbal abuse.
And then of course there are the sexual advances toward the women, more sexually loaded comments, trying to bring them in situations were they are alone with him. Sort of one sided dates for the lack of a better term. And when they turn down his advances, there comes the punishment’s:
More verbal abuse, suddenly being pulled from important races, withholding of salary, being kicked out the team house (which apparently was just the dudes house to begin with) or just flat-out cancelation of there contract.
So tell me again how this guy should be the manager of anything.
First off, I never said he should or should not be the manager of anything. Second, give me a bit to look through that article. That would be the first I’ve seen or even seen anything mentioned of specifics other than the slap in the cycling tips article.
Edit: OK, I read through the Rouleur article. It certainly sounds bad, and certainly suggests that he was using his position of power to attempt to coerce woman into sleeping with him. The one that struck me was him paying for an apartment out of pocket for a rider. That seems like it should be a red flag. But on the other hand…there’s just no way to know what his motivation for that was. It’s likely nobody does except for HIM. But anyway…the article certainly does not make what he did “clear” at all. I dont see how people without any real grasp of the facts are making claims that the sentence was right or wrong.
Also…you’re stating as fact a lot of things that were NOT goven as specifics in the article. You’re speculating. You very well may be right - but it’s still speculation, that’s my only point.
And I’d appreciate it if you didnt keep trying to say that I’m making an argument that he should still be a manager, because I’ve done nothing of the sort.
Also…I’d like to add that I am fully aware that one of the tricky things about this is that of course one of the catch 22s of sexual harassment, in a situation like this…is the imbalance of power, and the fear woman may have about rejecting advances and/or reporting inappropriate behavior. That said - what actually happened matters. I feel like the short version of our exchange here as been…
Forum: that sentence is outrageous, a miscarriage of justice
Me: What happened?
Forum: We don’t know. Does it matter??
Me: Well…yea, kind of…
I dunno. Maybe I’m just dense lol.
No, it’s not.
What’s the old saying, power doesn’t corrupt, power attracts the corruptible…or something like that.
Except that uxi is NOT a “HUGE” source of profit. Cycling is a joke in the sports biz world.
Not only that, but we’re talking about WOMEN’S cycling here, which is even more of a financial joke.
Thanks for your apathy. Guess we know what you’re going to do about it.
Eh… I mean, there are four formal complaints, a case opened with the Gendarmerie, at least six others corroborating overt sexual abuse upon other harmful behavior. He’s not some creepy guy at the bar, he is their manager and directly in charge of their career. It mostly seems that you just don’t want a pretty cut and dry case to have severe repercussions because potentially there are other cases without merit that will lead to severe consequences. This is not one of those later cases.
One single piece of only one of the numerous complaints, "“He was very touchy, always wanting hugs before I would go to bed. They were not friendly hugs; they were way too touchy. He would kiss me a lot on the forehead and even ask me to kiss him. This is where I think he uses his power over the riders because he knows we are all there on an opportunity to race for a UCI professional team. He would always make deals to put me on the roster. I would ask to race a specific race, and he would say, ‘We’ll see.’ There was this race where he put my name on the roster, working on his computer, and he said, ‘Come and see: I put your name on the roster. Now give me a kiss.’”
And the guy basically admitting to his behavior when asked by a journalist, "When Cyclingnews asked Van Gansen if he could point to a scenario that Meisels might deem as being inappropriate behaviour on his part, he highlighted one instance that took place inside the home.
“Yes, I can imagine what she is referring to,” Van Gansen wrote. "At a certain moment, she came down from her room in a very short pant and with a shirt knocked up under her breasts with naked belly. She came standing like that before my desk and asking me some things.
"After answering her questions I told her: ‘Esther, it’s very sexy what you are wearing, but it’s maybe too sexy, I could get something from it, who knows?’
“On this, she reacted: ‘Patrick, you make me feel very uncomfortable saying this, you do this all the time.’ Me: ‘Oh yes I do this all the time?’ She: ‘Yes last week you mentioned about my nice pants and I don’t like this.’ Me: ‘Than maybe go dress yourself properly now!’”"
So really, what facts are you claiming we all don’t know?
OK fair enough. Indeed you didn’t.
But I have to say, I’m a bit baffled how can read these things and still think there is not enough “facts” or “evidence” to ban him from these positions for good.
I’m baffled (but not at all surprised) that there’s more concern for the process and the criminal and the “me” than there is concern for the victims.
Umbrella-wise, it’s crystal clear that the uxi don’t give a shirt about the female peloton — the structure & treatment in which they operate is an insult at best and damaging at worst.
So my question is why do you feel like they do not care?
My statement is that if you don’t know why they don’t care, then you aren’t paying close enough attention.
I’m done doing homework for others.
#defundtheuci
Whining on the internet is very, very effective. I applaud your efforts!
What am I going to do? Probably not renew my UCI license next year and not support UCI events. Effective? No, not really. They won’t miss me. Better than whining on the internet? Maybe, maybe not.
Makes two of us.
If anyone would want to something a bit more effective, they could use the UCI fee they saved and give it to the cyclists alliance instead ![]()
Another uxi homerun:
(hope it works for y’all)
This and the dropper post, and we have regained the speed, but road bikes would be fugly! ![]()
The uxi would just create more rules to keep things 1920.
