Lotto Soudal's performance manager, Kevin de Weerdt, has been "immediately and temporarily suspended" following an as yet unnamed incident that occurred last Friday, the day before the start of the Vuelta a España in which de Weerdt was participating, the team announced.

"Following an incident that occurred on the eve of La Vuelta, the management of the Lotto Soudal cycling team has decided, after previous warnings, to suspend performance manager Kevin de Weerdt for the duration of the race with immediate effect.

"Team management will refrain from further comment until after general manager John Lerang and Kevin de Waalt return to Belgium for discussions," he added. [37-year-old de Waal had just joined the WorldTour team this season after stepping down as national road coach for the Belgian Cycling Federation following the 2018 UCI Road World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria, in September.

De Weer was a professional from 2003 to 2015, riding for teams such as Rabobank, Cofidis, Quick Step, and Lotto NL-Jumbo.