Team Picnic PostNL has announced that it will commission an independent investigation into its workplace culture after current and former riders and staff described a climate of fear inside the Dutch WorldTour team.
The announcement, shared on the morning of October 15, followed an explosive investigation by NOS Sport and cycling platform In De Waaier, built on confidential conversations over several months with 71 people who work or have worked for the team – from a total of 120 employees. Those interviewed spoke of an "angstcultuur", a culture of fear, and an unsafe working environment.
"The accounts shared by current and former riders and staff affect us. At the same time, we do not recognise ourselves in the overall picture painted by the publications," the team said in a statement.
"The fact that experiences differ does not lessen the seriousness of the accounts that have now emerged. We will therefore initiate an independent investigation into how our team culture is experienced in practice, and to what extent it reflects the culture we aspire to."
The team said it would take the conclusions seriously and implement whatever improvements were needed. The team has not yet named the investigator or explained how current and former riders and staff can contribute.
The team said it already provides several routes for raising concerns. "Riders have a personal coach, there is a riders' committee, and staff can approach confidential advisers. If anyone has felt unsafe in our organisation or has experienced that they did not have sufficient opportunity to raise their concerns, we want to understand how that could happen," it said.
NOS reported that many people at the team were unclear who the confidential adviser was, or whether there was one at all. The statement does not say whether these existing channels will play a part in the review.
What riders and staff described
The most detailed account came from Martijn Tusveld, who retired as a professional at the end of 2025. On October 22, 2020, the evening after stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia, sports director Rudi Kemna asked him on the team bus, then Team Sunweb's, what he thought of the tactics. Tusveld said the team could have done things differently.
At the end of that season, management told him he was creating a "negative atmosphere". His 2021 programme contained no major races, and he was later told his contract would not be renewed. He stayed for three more seasons only after two other riders gave up their contracts at the last moment, and left at the end of 2024.
"I became afraid," Tusveld told NOS. "I thought: I'll keep my mouth shut and say yes and amen. And that's what I did for the rest of my years with this team."
Tusveld's account is only one part of the investigation by NOS Sport and In De Waaier. We encourage readers to read their report: the accounts from riders and staff deserve to be read in full.
On its dealings with NOS, the team said that once it learned of the investigation, it offered to meet to explain its philosophy and to give NOS access to current riders and staff, but the offer was not taken up. It said it was given only a few days from the Monday before publication to answer questions in writing or on camera, and that later attempts to speak with NOS were unsuccessful.
The reporting lands in what has commonly been considered the worst season in the team's history. The team lists job security among the three commitments it says have guided it since 2008, and its future is far from settled. The UCI granted its men's and women's teams WorldTour licences for 2026 only, with financial conditions attached to any extension through 2028. On October 10, the team said it was preparing to race in the WorldTour in 2027.
