Opinion: Van Gansen's suspension in multi-complaint abuse case isn't enough

Health Mate Ladies Team (UCI Women's Team)
(Image credit: Getty Images)

A month has passed since former team manager Patrick Van Gansen was handed a near three-year ban from cycling by the UCI Disciplinary Commission for harassing several female riders at his teams, including Esther Meisels, Sara Mustonen and Chloë Turblin. 

The ban is largely retrospective, as Van Gansen chose to remove himself from the sport prior to the guilty verdict back in April 2020, and he will be eligible to work within a team on December 31, 2022, once he has completed a course on workplace sexual harassment.

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.