Bruyneel fires back at Vaughters following dismissal of Higuita
The Belgian questions the reasons behind dismissal
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Johan Bruyneel @JohanBruyneel
The former directeur sportif of Lance Armstrong, Johan Bruyneel, has gone after Jonathan Vaughters following the firing of Sergio Higuita.
On the weekend, a video went viral of Sergio Higuita and Dani Martinez, clad in their respective EF Education-Nippo and Ineos Grenadiers kit, blasting by yellow-clad climbing cyclists in the Giro de Rigo, a closed-road gran fondo organized by Higuita’s teammate Rigoberto Uran. But there was one problem: while Martinez was speedily ascending on his team’s Pinarello bike, Higuita wasn’t riding a EF Education-Nippo Cannondale. Instead, he was on the machine of his new 2022 squad Bora-Hansgrohe, a Specialized.
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The team said that although riding a non-team bike toward the end of the year is understandable, it is not allowed at a large public event. The Colombian was promptly dismissed with two months remaining in his contract. On Tuesday, the team announced they would reverse the decision, following Higuita’s apology. But that was after Bruyneel had already gone off about his former rider.
Jonathan Vaughters rode for Johan Bruyneel on the USPS team, and like many of the riders there, was later found to have been doping. Bruyneel was not allowed back in the sport, but Vaughters was forgiven and has been vocal about his anti-doping policies on the EF Education-Nippo team and its previous iterations.
After the Colombian was fired, Bruyneel tweeted “Another dirty move of the two-faced “poster child of ethics”, Professor Vaughters. Trying to save 2 months of salary of Higuita’s contract.” The Belgian has been often critical of Vaughters, and the inconsistency of some ex-dopers who have been forgiven and allowed back into the sport, and those that have not, such as Bruyneel, Armstrong or Ullrich.
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Whether Vaughters initially fired the Colombian to save a few months salary is unclear. The rider did breach his contract by riding on a non-team bike at a public event, and many on twitter lashed out at Bruyneel to be lecturing about ethics, given that he was the mastermind of systematic doping on USPS and Discovery.
Please. Like @JohanBruyneel is in any position to opine about ethics. Not to mention the fact that it’s a clear and very public disrespect to his current employer and their sponsor.
— stuart baur (@swbaur) November 9, 2021
