Etixx-QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere has hit back after the Tour of Qatar organisers announced bad behaviour was behind their reason to exclude his team from this race, despite them winning 8 of last 10 editions of the race.
“They should better organise their race in Qatar,” he told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, in a dig towards the way the Middle Eastern race is run.
“I do not know what's upset the sheikh," he added.
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Lefevere’s team were surprisingly omitted from the list of invitees, which was announced in early December. In a pre-race press conference, organisers stated that this had been due to disciplinary reasons. President of the Qatar Cycling Federation Sheikh Khalid Bin Ali Al-Thani said that the team had showed a lack of respect for the race, by taking too long to get changed ahead of the post-stage podium, talking disrespectfully to a race staff member and bad behaviour in the hotel.
The Belgian WorldTour team had previously cited sporting reasons for their absence. Etixx-QuickStep are the most successful team in the history of the Tour of Qatar. Niki Terpstra has won the past two editions of the race, which is often seen as good preparation for the Classics due to the presence of crosswinds and echelons. Lefevere upheld the team’s reasoning that they didn’t wish to send some of their top men to this year's race.
“We wanted Kittel but that was tough after his difficult year, and we weren't going to send Boonen immediately to the bustle of Qatar after his skull fracture,” Lefevere said, who also hit back at the Qatar organisers.
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