Ex-Lotto manager Heulot reveals: 'We were set to announce a co-sponsor on the Tour’s second rest day'

In an interview with CyclismActu.net, Heulot described a decision that had been months in the making. “It wasn’t burnout,” he says. “I feel I accomplished my mission. I arrived at a team that was falling apart financially, logistically and humanly. There was no real management. It was a huge rebuilding job, but after three years, I’d reached the limit of what I could do. The system had become too political.”

Heulot insists his decision to leave had little to do with the Lotto–Intermarché merger, which was made public after the Tour de France. “During the second week of the Tour, I was finalising discussions with sponsors ready to join us,” he recalls. “When I presented the project to the board, the lottery’s CEO told me I was too late, that talks with Intermarché were already underway. I was stunned. Everything was ready to announce the new co-sponsor. From that moment, everything changed.”

Heulot’s frustration, however, runs deeper than a single merger or management conflict. “There were few human values left in the way decisions were made,” he says. “I make a clear distinction between the team, with its staff and riders, and the ownership system, which is much more political. That’s beyond my capacity for patience and understanding.”

Reflecting on his three-year tenure, Heulot prefers to focus on the riders and the people around them. “The credit goes to the riders. They’re the ones turning the pedals. My role was to rebuild confidence and redistribute responsibility. But cycling is changing fast. Contracts aren’t always respected anymore. There’s no long-term vision. When agreements aren’t respected, the whole balance collapses.”

Heulot sees a deeper structural issue in the sport’s economic model. “The real problem is that cycling’s business model isn’t sustainable,” he says. 

“We talk about creating value at the top but never about redistributing it at the base. Amateur structures are collapsing, subsidies are shrinking, and local authorities are stepping back. Without a foundation, everything collapses. We’re forgetting the volunteers, the coaches, the people who guide young riders and pass on healthy values. When all that disappears, cycling will just be an empty shell.”

Despite the disillusionment, Heulot’s passion for the sport remains undimmed. “Of course I want to stay in cycling,” he says. “My son has relaunched a junior team based on the old Sojasun Espoirs. It’s a family passion, passed down from my father, who’s been involved in the sport for over 50 years. Cycling isn’t just the Tour de France or Pogacar. If we forget the grassroots, it’ll soon be too late.”