The UCI Board of Arbitrators, which is investigating the case of Rohan Dennis opposed to his former employers, Bahrain McLaren, rejected the cyclist’s requests for monetary compensation.
Dennis filed a complaint with the UCI after the team terminated his contract in September 2019, requesting that the remainder of his contract be paid in full (until the end of 2020) plus legal fees.
“The ICU Board of Referees issued today (30.07.2020) a resolution in the case between Rohan Dennis and the payer agent of the UCI WorldTeam Bahrain World Tour Bahrain Cycling Team Bahrain,” the ICU said.
“The Panel rejected the broker’s claims. The decision may be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within 30 days.”
Dennis’ contract ended on September 13, 2019, but the team did not announce it publicly until September 29, the day of the World Championship en route race, after Cyclingnews heard the news and approached the team. He has been on a two-year contract for less than a year after joining BMC Racing at the end of the 2018 season.
“This termination has not been made public to allow Mr. Dennis an undisputed preparation for the individual time trial of the 2019 UCI World Route Championship,” the team said.
Dennis last raced for Bahrain-Merida in the Tour de France, departing mid-stage on the eve of the individual time trial. He never ran for it again.
The ongoing arbitration case has been going on for months with the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for several testimonies, and the case has caused delays. Today, however, the ICU called for an end to procedures.
Cyclingnews understands that in recent months the ICU has twice pushed for conciliation, but none of the attempts have proved unfinished. No hearing date has been set, even in May, as both parties have exchanged written submissions and witness statements.
Dennis’ agent, Andrew McQuaid, commented when he was contacted through Cyclingnews.
The fight between the two sides arose from the Tour de France, where Dennis suddenly abandoned the race midway through level 12 in the Pyrenees, on the eve of the individual time trial of which he would have been the favorite. Dennis became shrouded in mystery, with no explanation for why he gave up his retirement and the team presented what they called “an investigation” into the events.
It is understood that Dennis and the team faced problems with the devices and that Dennis is not satisfied with the clothes provided to him prior to the time trial.
Dennis then clarified his resolution in an interview, saying, “It’s for reasons of non-public circle of family members among the user I fit in because of the scenario I’m in. The environment in which it made me, say: not a smart user or a satisfied user.
“It was a snowball, it got worse and, in the end, it didn’t need to be a statistic from an athlete who was potentially going to get divorced.”
While the team refused to publicly reject Dennis, the runner spent the next two months in virtually solitude, fleeing social media. He returned to the Yorkshire world championships, winning a world time trial with emphasis, and doing so on a blackened BMC bike, which the Merida team had worn all season.
At that time, his contract had already been terminated and he had no legal responsibility to travel on the team’s team, and the Australian duly set up a brand BMC for the world race en route on the day he ended his contract.
Dennis then joined Ineos in 2020 and competed in the Tour Down Under and Volta ao Algarve for the British team before the pandemic ended the season. In Australia, he gave an interview to the press in which he said he was “in a much larger intellectual state,” and even claimed that the Bahraini team had tried to force him to leave.
“You didn’t realize how serious it had become because it was a slow process, and other times they put you in a bad situation,” he revealed. “There were movements that were calculated in some way to hit at certain times of the day, to sleep or for education and times of the week, so nothing can be done over the weekend. It was a favorite move.
“They were very transparent incentives to move me forward. And I’m not the user who goes to bed and lets someone enjoy me anyway. It’s the recipe for disaster.”
Dennis has not yet commented publicly on the final results of the ICU decision, but said earlier this year that he would not be able to move forward until it is resolved.
“Until the door closes and the arbitration ends, it may not be absolutely out of my mind, but I’m not bitter.”
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