"I felt that humanity was regularly lacking" - Former Picnic rider blames stubborn management to have caused team's downfall
Cycling
Team Picnic PostNL once again made the headlines of media this week. And unfortunately, the mood takes a rapid negative swing after Frits Biesterbos had just won the team's first WorldTour stage of 2026 one day prior. On Thursday, NOS launched an article, revealing results of their investigation which featured 71 present of former riders and staff members of the Dutch team.
Some of them who have spoken of "culture of fear", "distrust" and even comparing its management strategies to a "dictatorship". Of the 71 names, former road captain Martijn Tusveld has taken the front.
Bert De Backer had his own experience with the formation as he wore its colours between 2009 and 2017. The Sporza analyst talks about the bombshell that has exploded within his former team, with an expression that doesn't reflect much surprise: "It was quite intense to hear how it hit many riders," he testifies on De Ochtend on Radio 1.
During his stay, he witnessed the team develop from a mid-pack ProTeam to a WorldTour fixture. Much of that was allowed by the team's precise scouting work as the managed to identify future stars Marcel Kittel, John Degenkolb, Tom Dumoulin or Warren Barguil and built a successful project around these leaders.
Everything seemed in place during successful period
De Backer experienced mainly the ups, leaving the team at the end of the season when Dumoulin claimed their only Grand Tour victory. "Let me be clear: I raced during the team's period of success."
Already during that time, the recipe for success was a combination of methodical approach and a very firm hand guidance from team management. At the beginning it worked wonders, but after some time every leader opted to pursue their careers elsewhere.
"Then they clung to rigid plans to be able to repeat that success. I feel that they remained extremely rigid in doing so. Even in my time, I felt that humanity and flexibility were regularly lacking."
And eventually, the entire project started to fall apart like a house of cards at the start of this decade. It reached the point where UCI wouldn't provide the team a three-year WorldTour license, and the team is scrambling to reach the top-30 on the UCI ranking against teams who should not come anywhere near them.
Tom Dumoulin won the 2017 Giro d'Italia for the Team Sunweb
No way to have a proper conversation
De Backer points out that he never had a particularly warm relationship with the management. That stubborness did not cause much friction in the good times, but as riders started to seek out other options before settling with a contract at Picnic, talent to work with became scarce. "That strength 300% certainly became their downfall as well."
The Belgian provides examples of the rigid way of working. "The Netherlands is known for open discussion. There were numerous meetings within the team as well, but they did not seek consensus. Rather, they looked for a way to make the riders follow the management's opinion."
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Towards the end of his stay, De Backer learned to keep his thoughts to himself, knowing his input won't be heard anyway:
"I am someone who likes to fight for my opinion, but even I was quicker to just say 'yes' in my final contract year to avoid that extra meeting. I can imagine that this approach pushes young riders, who are just living their dream, beyond their limits."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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