LeMond Wants Out of Contract to Accept Rich 7-Eleven Offer

Tour de France winner Greg LeMond wants to leave the Belgian ADR cycling team after receiving a “phenomenal” offer from the 7-Eleven team in the United States, his team director said today.

Jose de Cauwer said that LeMond wants to break his contract, which does not expire until the end of next year, but that ADR has yet to decide whether to allow the American to quit.

“If he desperately wants to go, there are two possibilities. Either we tell him to stay and we start quarreling or we agree to let him go by mutual agreement,” De Cauwer told Reuters.

De Cauwer said 7-Eleven had made LeMond the highest offer ever made to a rider, which ADR could never match.

“They are ready to pay him a phenomenal sum, and they are prepared to go to the bitter end,” De Cauwer said. He declined to specify details of the offer.

LeMond and his lawyers visited International Professional Cycling Federation President Hein Verbruggen on Monday to discuss ways of terminating the contract, but Verbruggen said it would not be possible, De Cauwer said.