Former Aqua Blue Sport rider Larry Warbasse has said riders
were still owed money by the team.
But he added the outstanding sum was small. And he believed
most of the riders were happy to have received almost all they were due.
The former American road race champion said he believed the
Irish ProContinental team had set its sights too high last year, before it
folded suddenly in August.
Warbasse explained he didn’t feel he was in “the greatest place” on a personal level last season, adding he did not blame the team for that.
“We weren’t getting into the races we were hoping to get in
to and so our hands were tied,” he said.
“The first year on Aqua Blue we had a ton of fun. And I
think we didn’t have high expectations because we didn’t know what to expect.
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“And then it far surpassed our expectations because we got
into some classics and we got into the Vuelta and Tour de Suisse.
“And that was, like, ‘wow’; we were so surprised. And then
we set the bar so high for the next year we were all just disappointed.
“And I think unless the team took some big step up, we were going to be disappointed again.”
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In response to questions during a cycling news podcast Warbasse said the riders had “missed about 30 per cent” of their payment for their last month, which is about 10 days salary.
“In the end we were still pretty happy that we almost got
everything. That wasn’t that bad in the grand scheme of things, it could have
been a lot worse.”
He also spoke fondly about the team and was clear he was
still well disposed to the team’s owner, Irish businessman Rick Delaney.
“I’ve seen Rick riding and stuff; I waved and he waved,”
Warbasse joked in what were good humoured remarks. And he said pro cyclists
knew that the sport was “volatile”.
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In response to queries from stickybottle, the UCI issued a brief statement saying it was pursuing the team for money it said was still owed.
The governing body added the bank guarantee, which all teams must lodge at the start of each season, did not cover all of Aqua Blue Sport’s sums owed.
"The UCI can confirm that the process for distribution of the bank guarantee is now completed,” it said of the money Aqua Blue Sport lodged.
“The entire amount held by the UCI has been distributed
according to the UCI regulations.
“We can also confirm that the bank guarantee was not
sufficient to cover all claims and that amounts were distributed
proportionately among riders and staff members.
“The UCI waived most of its normal fees due under its regulations
in such instances.
“The UCI can also confirm that it is pursuing the team and
the guarantors of the team’s financial wellbeing for the full amounts due to
the riders and staff, unpaid fees due to the UCI and unpaid contributions due
to the CADF.”
Warbasse also said when he learned of his former Aqua Blue Sport team mate Stefan Denifl’s arrest on suspicion of blood doping it was “heartbreaking”.
He said he felt more disappointed than angry. “I was so disappointed because he was my friend and my team mate for a long time; he was on IAM (Cycling) with me too.
“Something like that was super unexpected. It was definitely
a big shock; I didn’t know how to process it.”
But Warbasse said he was very heartened that big names in the sport, including Thibaut Pinot, were clearly so upset when the story broke.
Warbasse said he assumed more cyclists would be caught up in the same Austrian-based blood doping ring his former team mate is alleged to have been involved in.
And while he expected there was some doping going on in cycling,
he did not expect cases to emerge “so close to home”.
He sounded as shocked that Georg Preidler of Groupama- has also been linked to the blood doping ring.
He said the Austrian was so decent and friendly it was hard
to believe he was now mixed up in the investigation.
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