Cycling: During Wout van Aert after his Crash at the Tour de France working on his comeback, he has clinched a victory in court. The Labor Court of Mechelen dismissed a €1,15 million lawsuit brought by Nick Nuyens. But now he wants to appeal.
It's about a whopping 1,15 million euros
"First win of the season for crosser Wout van Aert." This is how one could smugly paraphrase the judgment of the Mechelen Labor Court. Plaintiff Nick Nuyens would probably laugh little about it. The ex-team boss of the Willems-Crelan team demands a whopping 1,15 million euros from his former protégé Wout van Aert. After the failed lawsuit worth millions, he now wants to appeal in Antwerp.
Nick Nuyens' attorney Rudy Desmet:
“We think this is a surprising and unbalanced verdict. We will therefore appeal. Nick is disappointed. I think rightly so, because the rules weren't applied correctly here. When it comes to breach of contract, the bar is always set very high. You have to provide conclusive evidence that the other party has made a very serious mistake.”
Nick Nuyens sees an illegal breach of contract
The reason for the court hearing dates back to 2018. At that time, Nick Nuyens team boss of the second division Willems-Crelan and Wout van Aert was part of the team. Because of financial difficulties, the team wanted to merge with Aqua Blue Sport. However, this plan failed and a merger with the Equipe Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij was imminent. As Wout van Aert was upset about this decision and was not informed, he unilaterally terminated his contract with the permission of the UCI and joined Jumbo – Visma in March 2019.
Van Aert's lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge:
“Cycling is more than just a sport. There must be trust between employer and employee. That was no longer the case here.”
Wout van Aert sees a legitimate contract termination
The whole matter is made spicy by the statement by Niels Albert, Wout van Aert's trainer. He claims Nick Nuyens tried to get his driver to sign an incriminating statement. Instead of forcing this, Niels Albert testified as a witness for Wout van Aert.
Nick Nuyens' attorney Rudy Desmet:
“It was statement against statement. Albert's versus Nuyens'. But apparently Nuyens' testimony is not taken into account because he is a party involved. That's not normal."