An Australian cycling manager has withdrawn from the Tour de France after allegations he sent an unsolicited image of himself to a woman online.
Allan Davis is the sporting director of Lotto Dstny and was set to steer the team through the 21-stage race, which begins this weekend in the Spanish Basque Country.
Earlier this week a Twitter user posted a screenshot of a direct message exchange in which a man sent a shirtless photo and wrote: “I’m board [sic] in a hotel room and thought of you.”
The user then posted more screenshots of the same man appearing to threaten legal action if the original 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,” it read. “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.”
Davis has not commented on the matter and appears to have deactivated his Twitter account.
His team said in a statement: “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.
“Please note that this is a personal case and this 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 accuser has since shown the Guardian evidence that this was not the first time she was sent images by Davis, a Commonwealth Games gold medalist, who suggested he could help her get a job in the sport.
The Tour de France begins in the Spanish city of Bilbao on Saturday.
