<\/p>\n
\u201cThree million euros in debt,\u201d he said bluntly. \u201cEuro, eh. Three million Belgian francs you can solve. But three million euros? I can\u2019t wrap my head around it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI warned JF: they\u2019re spending your money \u2014 don\u2019t you feel that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Central to Van der Schueren\u2019s account is a sense that leaders at the top lost control of spending long before the hole became public. \u201cI need to be careful what I say \u2014 I don\u2019t want a lawsuit for slander,\u201d he began, before making clear just how loudly he had raised concerns. \u201cBut I warned JF. \u2018Wake up, they\u2019re spending your money. Don\u2019t you feel that?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
One example in particular left him stunned. \u201cDo you think it\u2019s normal that a team with no money goes on a training camp in December to Albir with one hundred people? Do you know what that costs? The entire development squad was there. In January, fine \u2014 but December? We couldn\u2019t afford that.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Van der Schueren, CEO Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Bourlart repeatedly insisted this was part of \u201cprofessionalising\u201d. The veteran DS argues that the ambition far outsprinted reality. \u201cI agree with professionalising \u2014 but only if you have the money for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI helped put that team on the map \u2014 that\u2019s why it hurts\u201d<\/p>\n
Van der Schueren\u2019s emotional investment in the team is impossible to miss. He joined Wanty in 2014 when, as he describes it, \u201cthere wasn\u2019t enough money to even make a team.\u201d He brought in nearly a million euros in sponsorship and worked his first year for free.<\/p>\n
\u201cI introduced Jean-Fran\u00e7ois and the people of Wanty to ASO, after which we could go to the Tour in 2017. I didn\u2019t do anything alone, but the Wanty team is also a bit my team. I put so much energy into it. That\u2019s why it hurts to see them now heading towards the abyss.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tactical confusion, staff exodus and a squad losing its wayThe sporting decline in 2024 and 2025 baffled him just as much as the financial one. A squad still containing riders like Gerben Thijssen, Arne Marit and Biniam Girmay<\/a> delivered only four wins. \u201cI don\u2019t understand it,\u201d Van der Schueren admitted. \u201cLook at the riders they still had. Lorenzo Rota hasn\u2019t won a race for two years \u2014 if Valerio Piva were still directeur sportif, that would never happen.\u201d<\/p>\n He was equally critical of tactical decisions. \u201cEverything is for one man now. I understand you must protect Biniam \u2014 of course \u2014 but not with six riders. How often do you still see an Intermarch\u00e9\u2013Wanty rider in the break?\u201d<\/p>\n The decline, he says, wasn\u2019t limited to the road. Their once-celebrated medical and cyclocross departments \u2014 \u201cthe best in Belgium\u201d \u2014 collapsed after key staff walked out over broken promises. \u201cSince my departure, more than twenty members of staff have left. It\u2019s a disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n