Australian Allan Davis, sports director for the Lotto Dstny cycling team, will miss the Tour de France after being accused of sending an unsolicited photo to a woman.
Earlier this week, a Twitter user posted a screenshot of a direct message exchange from a man who sent a shirtless photo and a comment: “I’m board [sic] in a hotel room and thought of you.”
According to the time stamp, the message was sent in late May.
The message continued: “We just finished Mayenne”.
Mayenne refers to the Boucles de la Mayenne — a race in northwest France that wrapped up in late May, which Lotto Dstny had competed in.
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The photo appeared to match the photo from Davis’ Twitter account, which has since been deleted.
According to the Guardian, the user later posted a screenshot of another message in which the man appeared to threaten legal action if the previous tweet was not deleted.
“My fiancee and I would like you to delete any potential tweets involving my image or in writing, within one hour from this message,” the message said.
“My lawyer, family, are at the police station now to report you or anyone else on social media who may have publicly damaged my image.”
The allegations were first reported by Flemish news outlet Het Nieuwsblad.
In a statement, Lotto Dstny said “it has been decided, by mutual agreement, to keep the sports director out of the Tour de France”.
“Lotto Dstny has taken notice of the allegations of transgressive behaviour, expressed towards a sports director of the team and published by a person on Twitter,” the team said in a statement.
The team said it was “a personal case” and “has nothing to do with the team”.
“In order to keep the peace, it has been decided, by mutual agreement, to keep the sports director out of the Tour de France.
“The team will not make additional comments on this case and asks to respect the privacy of those involved.”
The Guardian reports the woman claimed it’s not the first time Davis had sent her an unsolicited shirtless photo.
Davis, 42, enjoyed a successful career as a road racing cyclist before retiring from professional cycling in 2014.
He won a gold medal in the road race at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and bronze in the road race at the world championships in the same year.
Davis also won the ochre jersey as the overall winner of Australia’s Tour Down Under in 2009.
Prior to joining Lotto Dstny, he worked as sports director at women’s team Wiggle High5.
The Tour de France gets underway on Saturday in Bilbao, Spain.
Lotto Dstny’s team is spearheaded by Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan, who has won five Tour de France stages in his career.
