Wout van Aert couldn’t escape a €662,000 ($695,000 USD) severance payment Monday in the resolution of a long-running legal tussle with former employers.
The case stretches back to 2018 when Van Aert terminated his contract with the Sniper Cycling organization that ran his former Verandas Willems-Crelan team.
Van Aert’s then-controversial mid-season move to Jumbo-Visma marked the beginning of the Belgian’s transition from “next big thing” to outright superstar.
Only Nick Nuyens, manager of the Sniper Cycling group, wasn’t so interested in Van Aert’s long-term career arc. Nuyens maintained the move was unlawful and first took Van Aert to court in that same year, citing “a breach of trust.”
The case has wrangled back and forth in Belgian courts for the half-dozen years since.
Nuyens’ lawyers initially argued for €1.2 million compensation. Labor courts in Antwerp settled in the manager’s favor in 2021 albeit at the significantly smaller €660k amount.
Van Aert stumped up the initial sum before Nuyens appealed to the court of cassation in the quest for the final half-million.
The Antwerp courts finally confirmed Monday there would be no further payment for Nuyens, but no escape for WVA, either.
The Belgian baller’s previous payment to Nuyens €662,041.31 still stands.
“On 13 January 2025, the Court of Cassation ruled in the case of cyclist Wout van Aert against his former employer/cycling team. The Court of Cassation rejected the cassation appeals of both parties against the judgment of the Antwerp Labour Court of 9 June 2021,” read the official ruling.
The fallout b/t Wout & Crelan team owner, Nick Nuyens, and and subsequent turn of events was dramatic
Wout’s contract terminated Sep 18 but he was scheduled to race the 🇺🇸 World Cups on the 23rd / 29th
But everything came together
Wout rode that season “solo”, in a WVA 🌈 kit pic.twitter.com/ry5u4yL4gP
— Atlanta Rouleur Collection (@AtlantaRouleur) September 9, 2023
“With that judgment, the labor court sentenced Wout van Aert to pay a severance payment of 662,041.31 euros because he had wrongly terminated his employment contract for urgent reasons.”
Van Aert, who packs a life-long contract with Visma-Lease a Bike, is thought to earn around €3.5 million per season.
