A story of regret and striking details: Dstny-CEO leaves cycling: "That definitely hurts"

It started with a lovely collaboration on paper for four and a half years; it ended with a great deal of hassle and arguing. Lotto Dstny will no longer be around as of 2025, and the main sponsor is still looking for a new co-sponsor. That could be a difficult search, agrees Daan De Wever, CEO of the soon-to-be departing Dstny. The boss of the relatively small company is surprised by the cooperation with Lotto and reflects on his time in the peloton with regret and melancholy.

In conversation with the Belgian outlet HLN, De Wever elaborated on his two years in the peloton and his departure, not shying away from the details. For example, he heard nothing from anyone on the team for months. "I think that is unfortunate. We had a beautiful journey together. This is not how I would say goodbye, even if it were at least having dinner together, but that is not in keeping with the style of the house."

The lack of Dstny on the new jersey hurts De Wever. "Yes, it affects me. I went into this project in the summer of 2022 intending to continue for 4.5 years; that's how it was budgeted with Dstny." In the end, his company left nearly after only a year, following a conflict with Lotto's now-resigned CEO. That was deflected after that person's departure, but it caused the relationship between the two sponsors to become more strained. "That unblocking allowed the team to take a new step and flourish, but that person did not appreciate that move."

Read more below the photo.

The departure of Van Gils gives Lotto a little more breathing room.

De Wever talks about Foré and Alpecin: "Would have stayed there as co-sponsor"

De Wever denies that Dstny would be the party procrastinating, putting the entire team in limbo. "That is a flat-out lie. The person who claims that may prove to me what negotiations have taken place with Dstny since the clause expired in the summer of 2023,' he states with determination. 'They made me wait, and I saw minimal effort in persuading me. Those statements bother me."

De Wever will follow the performance of his soon-to-be old team with a sense of melancholy and interest. "I also hope that some youngsters will break through, two of them - Jarno Widar and Steffen De Schuyteneer - I convinced myself to sign with Lotto Dstny." The Dstny CEO also just missed some hits in cycling, which he regrets in retrospect. "I wanted to bring Jurgen Foré to the team," he says of the man who will succeed Patrick Lefevere next year at Soudal Quick-Step. "But that preference was sidelined because they didn't want my personal preference to be the final choice for the team," he describes the balance of power.

Once again, he refers to Lotto's old CEO. "I have never bumped into such an ego in all my life; that is the sad reality." Jurgen had already drawn up a policy plan and was the top candidate. "Until the Board of Directors bypassed us." One last striking detail: With Dstny, De Wever narrowly missed a partnership with Alpecin, where Deceuninck later stepped into the gap created by that team. "In that area, I have beaten myself up a few times. Had I come across Philip Roodhooft at the time, his team might have been called Alpecin-Dstny, and I'm sure we would still be sponsors there now," said the CEO of Dstny, who hopes to return to cycling one day.

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