The first reactions to the news of Aqua Blue Sport's demise are filtering out. There has been a mix of anger, surprise, gratitude and even humour; the latter from Conor Dunne in an Instagram post (Photos by Karen M Edwards)
Reaction from inside Aqua Blue Sport to collapse
The reaction from inside Aqua Blue Sport to the team collapse has ranged from anger to humour. But it is clear the riders were caught by surprise.
On Monday morning the team issued a statement via Twitter. It said it would not be applying for a ProContinental licence for next year.
And while it vowed to return to cycling at some point in the future, no date was set. The team had hoped to become self financing by selling cycling kit on its website.
One of those affected by the team stopping, Irish champion Conor Dunne, took the development with characteristic humour.
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Anyone following Dunne on social media will know he is very good value. And though he must now find a few team, he put his own inimitable twist on it.
“Green giant for sale,” began a message on Instagram from the 26-year-old tallest rider in the pro peloton.
“Feed me porridge and I'll be happy. I know all the lyrics to every Dolly Parton song ever made.
“Slightly forgetful, due to all the door frames I've walked into. But I'm sure we can learn to get round this.
“Have a large tattoo of my recently deceased obese cat, Smudge, on my left buttock. I can eat 44 Weetabix in less than an hour.
“Also, I come with a slightly lunatic Irish girl called Stacey, who supports me at every race... Please don't panic, I have a handbook explaining how to look after her.”
On a serious note, Dunne said he had had a “tough day”. He thanked everyone who had messaged him.
He added that "in times of trouble” it was important to have a sense of humour “and frantically search the job section of the Indo”.
One insider who greeted the news with less humour was Liz Hatch, the partner of Aqua Blue Sport rider Andy Fenn.
She implied he had no warning of the team's demise and that the riders learned the news on Twitter.
Clearly angry with the development, she took to Twitter herself. She ran a poll asking people if it was "not cool or not cool" to let employees know over Twitter they were out of work.
Poll- letting your employees know they are out of a job over Twitter.
Not cool or not cool?
— Liz Hatch (@Liz_Hatch) August 27, 2018
Aaron Gate, a 27-year-old Kiwi in his second season with the team, also said on Twitter the announcement the team was closing had come as a "surprise".
He said a Facebook image had popped up on his account from last year; of the team riding the Vuelta 12 months ago.
Gate added that since then the team had gone from riding a Grand Tour of "nada".
Interesting Facebook memory to pop up with today's surprise @AquaBlueSport announcement - from #LaVuelta last year, to nada
?: @eddie_km pic.twitter.com/CdI7fahQnM
— Aaron Gate (@aarongate) August 27, 2018
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Another rider, last year's Vuelta stage winner Stefan Denifl, suggested in a post on Monday morning the news was new to him.
However, Denifl struck a conciliatory tone; thanking the team for the opportunity it had given him over the last two years.
Not the best news to start the week. I want to thank @AquaBlueSport and @RickDelaneyABS for 2 memorable years and the opportunity I had been given to achieve my dreams. Thanks to all our fans and supporters along the way. I hope we all find soon new “homes” within cycling pic.twitter.com/eqFXH0psXX
— Stefan Denifl (@stefandenifl) August 27, 2018
Former US champion Larry Warbasse, who won a Tour de Suisse stage last year with Aqua Blue Sport, was also caught by surprise.
He told VeloNews he was on his way out training when he was messaged by a team mate breaking the news to him.
“I have had just about as much time to digest it as you have,” he told the US website from his base in southern France.
“I went for a ride this morning, to meet Philippe Gilbert. I get a message, I thought it was Philippe.
“Then I saw the team is stopping from a message from one of my teammates. So I started firing off texts and e-mails.
“Gilbert said he could see from 100 meters away there was something wrong. We went for a ride, but my mind was elsewhere most of the time.”
He said while teams were already filling up with riders, it was better to know now that he needed a new contract rather than in another month.
Team developments of late
Earlier this year team founder and owner Rick Delaney said Aqua Blue Sport's self-financing model was not working as well as hoped.
As a result, he would look for sponsorship for next year. He added he had spent €7 million on the team since inception.
Despite the investment, the team was having serious problems securing invites to bigger races.
Indeed, Delaney took to Twitter to hit out at some race organisers when no invites came from them.
Last month news reports emerged in Europe stating Aqua Blue Sport was to merge with Belgian team Veranda's Willems-Crelan.
The story, carried by media outlets including stickybottle, was dismissed as "fake news" by Rick Delaney.
And within hours the Irish team issued a statement saying it was buying the other team's assets rather than merging with it.
The statement, which quoted management from Veranda's Willems-Crelan, added some of the Belgian squad's staff and riders would move to the Irish team as part of the deal.
This included cyclocross legend and emerging road race star Wout van Aert; Aqua Blue Sport adding it planned to move into the cyclocross sector and open franchises.
However, Veranda's Willems-Crelan immediately distanced itself from the statement, which Aqua Blue Sport then withdrew from its website.
Talks were to continue between the two teams. But in its statement on Monday, Aqua Blue Sport said that merger or acquisition was now not possible.
And because of that apparently final option not working out, the team has decided to stop; for now at least.
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