Patrick Lefevere has made a hamfisted effort to backtrack publicly on his comments about Julian Alaphilippe and his partner Marion Rousse. The Soudal-QuickStep team boss made comments about Alaphilippe's lifestyle, saying he went to too many parties and drank too much alcohol.
He also told Belgian magazine HUMO that he had spoken to Alaphilippe, in the presence of his partner Rousse and his manager, telling them the Frenchman's form had to improve or he would be fired.
The team boss - known for his questionable remarks, including about women - also said Alaphilippe was "under the spell" of Rousse, with whom he has a three-year-old child.
Rousse hit back strongly, telling Lefevere she would not allow him to speak about her's and Alphilippe's private lives and also contradicting his claims about their lifestyle. She is a popular figure in French cycling and is a former national road race champion and TV presenter turned director of Tour de France Femmes.
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She is the first person to very publicly rebut Lefevere. Given her influence, and her popularity, her decision to take on Lefevere - telling him to "show more respect and class" - was always going to cause him problems.
At a team press conference ahead of 'opening weekend' in Belgium, Lefevere tried backtracked on his remarks, though did not appear to apologise. According to Het Nieuwsblad he also started the press conference by telling the media: “No questions for Julian about the past few days.”
He also claimed he had not discussed Rousse, even though he mentioned her by name several times in the HUMO interview.
“I haven't talked about her. That's what you make of it and what she makes of it. She keeps it short and I meant that in a positive way," he said of Rousse's reply to him, issued on her Instagram account.
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"Now, I understand that there are also women who defend me. Maybe we should continue with that,” he added in a reference to Bettina Pesce, Philippe Gilbert's wife. She said on Instagram that Lefevere only “says out loud what many people think deep inside.”
Lefevere then continued to speak about the HUMO interview where he made his remarks.
"This interview was three hours, the passage about Julian was three minutes. As always, my Dutch is not always well understood, but maybe I made a mistake to speak about this," he said,
He also clarified when he referred to telling Alaphilippe he would be fired, he was speaking of a conversation they had at the end of 2022. He also met with Alaphilippe before the press conference yesterday in a bid to clear the air, as he felt that was required.
"I insisted on being here because the atmosphere was a bit tense anyway, and we don't need that. I can set all that aside, and I hope Julian himself can, too. 'No hard feelings,' I told him. Hopefully, he sees it that way. Tomorrow is a new day, and we won't talk about this again.
“I am not going to tell you here what was said,” Lefevere added of speaking to Alaphilippe. “As far as I'm concerned, the fire has been extinguished. Julian said: 'Okay you are the boss, if you say something it is your responsibility. I am going to practice my profession as it should be.'”
"I mentioned (in the HUMO interview) that I spoke with Julian, his manager Dries Smets and Marion Rousse in November 2022. I said that he had to do better and that he had to work hard, and Julian did that too.
"It was not my intention at all to offend him, but the press jumped on it, his wife then started to react, and as a result, it also spread in France. Completely unnecessary, of course. But at the same time, I realise that perhaps I should have phrased it differently."
