Geraint Thomas has expressed his amazement at comments made by Soudal-QuickStep team boss, Patrick Lefevere, about his current and former star riders, Julian Alaphilippe and Sam Bennett.
The Welsh Ineos Grenadiers rider said when he heard Lefevere's comments he thought he may have been drunk when he made them.
And while the latest remarks were about Alaphilippe, and his partner Marion Rousse, Thomas also pointed out Lefevere had also made other "weird" comments about Sam Bennett.
Thomas, the 2018 Tour de France winner and last year's Giro d'Italia runner-up, said the manner in which Lefevere had "lost the plot" in public was "mental" for a team boss with such a history in the sport.
"It was bonkers, that, wasn't it?" Thomas said on his podcast. "To be fair I've got a lot of respect for Patrick and what he's done over the years with QuickStep, unbelievable team.
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"The results they've got, the riders they've had, how they ride, it's an incredible team, and the success they've had... I've so much respect for him.
"But recently with these sort of outbursts... it's just a bit weird. Like, for a team boss with so much history and respect from people... just sort of losing the plot in public like, basically, it's mental.
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"With Sam Bennett, he had this thing and now Alaphilippe. As a rider, I feel sorry from my fellow riders. And I know Sam well, less well than Julian. But it's just a crazy situation really. It shouldn't be done in public. Whatever his thoughts, deal with it behind closed doors."
Thomas added while he did not mind some comments being made by management about athletes - citing former Welsh rugby manager Warren Gatland - it had to be under control.
"I thought he was drunk to be honest , maybe he was," Thomas added jokingly of some of the comments Lefevere has made.
When Bennett was a QuickStep rider he enjoyed a stellar 2020 season, including two stage wins and the green jersey at the Tour de France. However, when the Irishman injured his knee halfway through the following season, and then started paving the way for a return to Bora-hansgrohe, Lefevere turned on him.
“You also have Sam Bennett. For me the height of mental weakness,” Lefevere said in 2021.
“Leaving Bora-Hansgrohe and telling everyone that he was being bullied and almost depressed and bankrupt, only to return fourteen months later. It is the same as women who still returns home after domestic violence.”
More recently, Lefevere said Alaphilippe went to too many parties and drank too much alcohol. He also spoke of Alaphilippe's partner Marion Rousse, an extraordinary thing to do, saying the rider was under her "spell".
