Belgian cycling team apologise after rider Iljo Keisse feigns sex act on waitress in embarrassing series of events

Team manager Patrick Lefevere had initially blamed the women involved, forcing a statement to be released condoning the actions during the Vuelta a San Juan

Belgian cyclist Iljo Keisse has been accused of sexual harassment by a hotel's waitress (EPA)

Belgian cycling team Deceuninck-QuickStep have apologised for the embarrassing series of events over the past week which began with a rider feigning a sex act on a waitress and culminated in team manager Patrick Lefevere blaming the women involved and threatening to pull out of a race.

Iljo Keisse was reported to the police and was subsequently disqualified from the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina after making the inappropriate gesture while posing for a photo with a woman serving him and several team-mates at a restaurant.

Lefevere then accused the women of financial motivations, and claimed to be considering withdrawing his QuickStep team from the race despite their rider Julian Alaphilippe leading. The team boycotted the following day’s podium and Keisse’s father made a bad situation worse, telling media the woman was to blame because she had positioned her backside “suggestively”.

By Thursday the situation had unravelled to such an extent that Deceuninck, QuickStep’s new title sponsor, said it was considering their future partnership.

“The team would like to make a sincere apology for the past few days,” a statement on Friday read, “firstly to the woman involved in this regrettable incident, and additionally to all women, fans and sponsors. We don’t condone this type of behaviour. Our team’s core values include mutual respect and that was not upheld in this situation. Iljo also personally acknowledges his mistakes and takes full responsibility for his actions.

“As a team, we are aware that one of main roles is to educate the riders and make sure they demonstrate respect for everyone. The events of these last few days are something that we can – and already have – learned from, and for that very reason we have decided to implement in the near future specific conduct training protocols for all riders and staff to ensure our values and make sure this kind of thing won’t happen again.

“Again, we are very sorry to everyone affected by this regrettable incident.”

The Veulta a San Juan resumed on Friday after Thursday’s rest day.