Harsh words conculeagues leave Plugge cold: "Maybe it's because I've been doing this for 10 years"

Richard Plugge, alongside Cian Uijtdebroeks and BORA-hansgrohe counterpart Ralph Denk, unexpectedly found themselves in the midst of a storm two weeks ago. However, the Visma | Lease a Bike team manager didn't perceive it as such. The severe criticism leveled at him by figures like Cédric Vasseur (Cofidis) and Brent Copeland (Jayco AlUla) didn't stir a crisis of conscience, as he explained to IDLProCycling.com.

Following the Uijtdebroeks controversy, the team managers at X were at odds. Vasseur confronted the Dutchman directly, questioning, "What is this again from the AIGCP president? You have to respect the rules and resign immediately." Copeland was equally unreserved in expressing his discontent. "I ask myself how such a thing can happen at all in our time and at our level of this sport? Is it greed? Desperation? Or simply not knowing the future of the athlete and who the real person is who unfortunately has to pay the consequences of an unfortunate problem? Shameful is an understatement," he conveyed.

"I'm not so shocked anymore by the noise that arises; maybe it's because I've been doing this for ten years," said Plugge, who has faced criticism on numerous occasions over the years. "We have also undergone a merger process, and all sorts of things are happening there too, about which much is being written. Eventually, we make choices in that, and then the result is that we are Visma | Lease a Bike, just as it is now the result that Cian is here," the manager simplifies.

Regarding the open attacks from other team bosses, Plugge maintained a relatively indifferent stance. "For me personally, in how I look at things, I don't form opinions quickly about something when I don't precisely know what's happening in the background. How others deal with that, they have to figure out for themselves," Plugge asserted.

Plugge: "Why should I have an opinion on what another team is doing?"

But what are his thoughts on all the uproar and accusations directed at his team? "How they arrive at those statements, I don't have an opinion on that either. I can only express where I stand, and as I mentioned earlier, why should I form an opinion about what another team does? Everyone should determine that for themselves, but I don't need to broadcast it on Twitter."

Vasseur (in charge at Cofidis) even went as far as suggesting that Plugge should resign immediately as the president of the AIGCP. "What am I supposed to do with that?" Plugge questions when confronted with the Frenchman's statement. "I was elected as the president of the AIGCP with the majority of votes based on a specific plan. With an overwhelming majority of votes, we successfully implemented the SafeR project."

"Now, if other teams have a different opinion on that, then that's fine. There are many individuals with opinions in the media, all over the place. We also had that debate in the Vuelta when people had various opinions about what we should do," Plugge stated straightforwardly.