Team TotalEnergies terminates Alexandre Geniez’s contract with immediate effect

This article originally appeared on Velo News

Team TotalEnergies has terminated Alexandre Geniez‘s contract with immediate effect. The news was announced on social media Friday morning by the French squad.

“Team TotalEnergies has come to an agreement with Alexandre Geniez to terminate his contract. As of today, he is no longer a member of Team TotalEnergies,” the team statement read.

Geniez, 34, was given a four-month suspended prison sentence in March of this year when he was found guilty of domestic violence against his ex-wife, Lucie Garrigues. He was also ordered to pay a symbolic compensation of one Euro to Garrigues.

Garrigues was with Geniez from 2013 to 2020, and she is the mother of their two children.

Geniez had not raced since the Tour du Rwanda in February but he was retained by Team TotalEnergies despite the guilty verdict after his lawyers initially talked about a possible appeal.

Team TotalEnergies did not fire Geniez immediately after the rider was found guilty and they were slow to release a statement at the time. They eventually released an ambiguous statement that made no mention of Geniez or the verdict.

Also read:

• Alexandre Geniez gets four-month suspended prison sentence for domestic violence

• TotalEnergies' Alexandre Geniez appears in French court on charges of domestic violence

"Team TotalEnergies condemns all forms of domestic violence, and wholeheartedly supports action to prevent and combat such abuse. Respect for people and the acquisition of responsibility are cardinal values that are supported by and shared within Team TotalEnergies. The team pays close attention to any situation that could violate these principles, and reserves the right to take appropriate disciplinary action in the event of proven misconduct," the team said at the time.

The report filed by Garrigues against Geniez last November indicated that disputes between the two were not uncommon, and that on November 7, 2021, Geniez threw a phone at Garrigues and made verbal threats.

Garrigues offered two medical certificates supporting her claims against Geniez, one that documented a frontal hematoma requiring a day of medical observation on November 17, and a second that documented a hematoma on her forearm.

Geniez is set to retire from the sport at the end of the season but it's highly unlikely that he will find a team for the remainder of the year, even if he has desires of racing again.

It's still unclear if the UCI will take action against Geniez. Despite the fact that the rider's trial was public knowledge the sport's governing body claimed that they had no knowledge of the proceedings until after the guilty verdict had been reached.

"The UCI had not previously been made aware of the criminal proceedings against Mr. Geniez. As this is a matter that would fall under the jurisdiction of the UCI Ethics Commission pursuant to Appendix 1 of the UCI Code of Ethics, we will draw their attention to the decision from the French court," a UCI statement sent to VeloNews said.

"The Ethics Commission will consider whether to ask for the production of documentation with a view to opening disciplinary proceedings."

VeloNews has reached out to both the team and the UCI for further details.

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