Belgian up-and-comer Ilan Van Wilder is taking DSM to court
Belgian up-and-comer Ilan Van Wilder is taking DSM to court
Belgian up-and-comer Ilan Van Wilder will meet DSM in court as he hopes to get out of his contract, Wielerflits reports.
The team may have a history of releasing riders from their deals early – with the likes of Marcel Kittel and Tom Dumoulin among the many riders who have departed from the team early and Tiesj Benoot reportedly set to join that list soon – but DSM apparently does not intend to do the same with Van Wilder.
A talented all-rounder, Van Wilder followed up promising results as a junior with a third-place overall finish at the Tour de l’Avenir and other impressive under-23 showings before joining DSM at the start of last year. The 21-year-old signed a three-year contract with the squad, leaving him with one more season still on his deal.
Wielerflits initially reported on a rift between rider and team in July of this year, and Van Wilder publicly expressed his desire to leave in August when he was not selected for the Vuelta a España as he had previously expected.
According to Wielerflits, DSM expressed in a statement that it was “disappointed” with the situation.
“We are aware that one of our riders, Ilan Van Wilder and his agent have chosen to take legal action to break Ilan’s employment contract with Team DSM. In this way they hope to make a switch to another team possible before the end date of the existing agreement. We are obviously very disappointed with this procedure,” DSM said.
“Instead of taking the right approach, actually asking for a transfer, a negative media campaign has been chosen, discrediting the team and those who work with Ilan on a daily basis, in order to force a premature termination of the agreement.”
DSM reportedly said it will “not comment further” on the subject as the legal process plays out.
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