Thursday May 2, 2024 at 3:21 PM
Amy Pieters has taken SD Worx to court. Her lawyer confirmed this The Telegraph. The former cyclist, who had a serious crash two and a half years ago and will never be able to cycle as a professional again, wants the team to recognize that she has an indefinite contract and to pay the outstanding wages.
Pieters crashed in December 2021 during a training camp in Calpe. She lost consciousness, suffered serious brain damage and was in a coma for almost three months, after which a long rehabilitation process followed. In 2024 it still does not function as before.
Pieters, now 32, drove for Boels Dolmans, the predecessor of SD Worx and the current SD Worx-Protime, from 2017. This employment ended on January 1, 2023. Since then, the multiple world champion in track cycling and European road champion has had no income. She wants confirmation through proceedings before the subdistrict court that her agreement with SD Worx counts as an employment contract for an indefinite period.
SD Worx believes that the case belongs to the UCI arbitration committee, not to the Dutch court. This is evident from an interim judgment. However, the court in Maastricht ruled differently and found that according to ‘standards of reasonableness and fairness’ the case should simply be completed in the Netherlands.
“After three consecutive contracts, a contract for an indefinite period follows”
The issue is what an ‘indefinite contract’ means in this context, because in practice cyclists never remain active in the professional peloton until the age of 67. However, according to Pieters’ lawyer Nick Poggenklaas, this is not relevant. There is nothing specifically stated about this in the law, he says in conversation with The Telegraph.
“I understand that this is annoying, but that is just how it is regulated by law,” says Poggenklaas. “After three consecutive contracts, a contract for an indefinite period follows. The law only makes an exception for professional football. In fact, this is no different from the question of whether or not Deliveroo delivery drivers are permanent employees.”
It is not yet known when the case between Pieters and SD Worx will be further dealt with.
