Omega Pharma won't appeal

Mark Coucke's Belgian pharmaceutical company Omega Pharma says that it will not appeal the decision of the court in Kortrijk to award Quick.Step team manager Patrick Lefevere €1.095 million in owed sponsorship. Two weeks ago, the court threw out Omega Pharma's €7.5 million breach of contract claim against Quick.Step, instead reversing the judgment and finding in favour of Lefevere.

Omega Pharma, which owns the Davitamon brand, was a co-sponsor of the Quick.Step team, but Lefevere broke the contract in July, 2004 after Omega Pharma refused to pay more money to start in the ProTour. But Omega Pharma also stopped paying its share of the initial sponsorship deal. Both parties filed lawsuits.

"We will abide by the decision made in Kortrijk," Coucke was quoted by Belga as saying. "I want to underline that we were right in saying that the contract we had until 2005 was unlawfully broken. On the other points, we did not win. Thus there will be an end between the legal fight between Davitamon-Lotto and the Lefevere group."

Patrick Lefevere commented that "sanity has prevailed. I hope that from today we can concentrate on the cycling teams, that we can race, and that we are spared from further setbacks." from the beginning. That is one of the things, which makes us unique."