Allan Davis is no longer employed by Lotto-Dstny after sending unwanted direct messages to a woman on Twitter. The Australian had previously been withdrawn from working as a directeur sportif at the Tour de France due to his actions.
Lotto-Dstny confirmed Davis’ departure to the Belga news agency on Tuesday and then later released an official statement, confirming that Davis’ termination followed an internal investigation into the accusations regarding ‘transgressive behaviour’ lodged against him.
“Allan Davis is no longer employed at Lotto Dstny. The collaboration with the Australian sports director was recently terminated,” read the Lotto-Dstny statement.
The team’s CEO, Stephane Heulot, added, “Without going into details, it has been decided to stop the collaboration with Allan. Lotto Dstny has its own values and standards which we apply in our daily work and in the team. We have a line that we do not deviate from and we require our employees to adhere to it. We prioritize the well-being and integrity of our team and a further collaboration was therefore impossible.”
Cyclingnews has reached out to Davis regarding his termination from Lotto-Dstny, however, he had not responded before the publishing of this story.
Davis had joined the team’s staff ahead of the 2022 season.
The allegations against Davis came to light in late June when the recipient of the messages alleged that she was contacted by a Lotto-Dstny press officer who asked her not to publish her allegations against Davis publicly on Twitter. At the time, Lotto-Dstny stated: “It’s a personal affair, and this has nothing to do with Lotto Dstny. Allan will not be in the Tour de France in order not to mix personal matters with team matters.”
Davis later issued a statement to apologise for his “behaviour”, “words,” and “actions” on social media towards the Twitter user.
“I deeply regret the way I conducted myself and the impact it had on the person involved. I acknowledge that our multiple direct-messaging interactions in May & June of 2023 touched upon both personal and professional matters,” Davis wrote in his statement.
“We discussed topics related to relationships, family and work, and I understand that at times my words and actions were inappropriate. I failed to consider the consequences of my behaviour, and for that, I am truly sorry.”
Davis had worked closely with Caleb Ewan during his time at Lotto-Dstny. Ewan was criticised heavily by manager Stéphane Heulot following his abandon from the Tour and has been linked with a possible move away from the team before his contract expires at the end of 2024.
Ewan hasn’t raced since the Tour and had been slated to line out at the Deutschland Tour this week, but he misses the race following the birth of his son.
Cyclingnews contacted the UCI to ask whether the governing body had received any formal complaints regarding Davis, and if it would be conducting an investigation into these allegations. The UCI replied, “The UCI is aware of the allegations against Allan Davis but does not comment on any potential investigations being raised.”
link