“This management is not suited to cycling” – Nicolas Roche tears into Picnic PostNL amid bombshell fear-culture allegations
Cycling
Nicolas Roche was recruited by Team Sunweb for his vast experience. By the end of his three years inside the organisation now known as Picnic PostNL, the Irishman says that same experience had become a problem for management.
Roche has given a damning account of his time with the Dutch team amid the bombshell allegations surrounding its internal culture, claiming he was eventually pushed towards the exit because younger riders were listening to him rather than simply following the team's protocols.
His testimony comes as Picnic PostNL faces intense scrutiny following an investigation by NOS Sport and In De Waaier, based on conversations with 71 current and former riders and staff members. Roche, who rode for the team from 2019 until his retirement in 2021, has now added his own name and experiences to the allegations.
Roche wore the Red Jersey at the Vuelta a Espana whilst riding for Sunweb
“My experience became a problem for management”
Sunweb signed Roche in 2019 after a career that had already taken him through some of the biggest teams in the peloton and seen him ride alongside or in support of Grand Tour winners including Alberto Contador, Chris Froome and Richie Porte.
His first season offered little indication of the conflicts to come. Roche took the red jersey at the 2019 Vuelta a España and says he initially liked the structure he found inside the team. By 2020 and 2021, his relationship with management had changed completely.
“They pushed me towards the exit,” Roche told NOS. “Rudi Kemna told my manager that I had too much influence over the young riders. That they listened to me and didn’t follow the protocol. My experience became a problem for management.”
Roche says challenging decisions increasingly became a source of friction. “They were straightforward about that. Kudos to the team. They always said that was what they were like, and they were,” he continued. “The only problem was that they didn’t appreciate it when I was straightforward as well. It was never OK when my opinion didn’t align with what they wanted to hear.”
𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐍𝐎𝐒 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧 𝐝𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐚𝐢𝐞𝐫 Read our full statement on the team website. 🇳🇱🔗https://t.co/FlBu5JGadq 🇬🇧🔗https://t.co/viC17P0b4Y https://t.co/cPS8erXakm
— Team Picnic PostNL (@picnicpostnl) October 15, 2026
“You do what you are told”
One confrontation Roche remembers particularly clearly came at a January 2021 training camp.
Feeling he needed more volume, he extended a training ride by around an hour. When he returned, he says sporting director Kemna, head of science Narelle Neumann and other staff members were waiting.
“They literally said: ‘We don’t care whether you do more or less, but you do what you are told.’ ‘Er, sorry?’ I said. ‘Am I getting a warning now because I trained for an hour longer? What the fuck?’ That was when I realised it was going to be a tough year.”
According to Roche, those clashes became increasingly frequent. “We went from one conflict to another. My problems were mainly with management. If I gave my opinion, it became a problem because it went against their protocol and their plans.”
“I don’t think this management is suited to cycling,” Roche said. “In cycling, we have to deal with so many variables. It isn’t a predictable sport. The body isn’t a perfect machine. We have to deal with weather conditions and also the tactics of 24 other teams. I understand wanting to have a master plan so you are prepared, but you cannot already be planning stage 17 of the Tour de France in May. And that is what they did.”
Roche also described an environment in which strong personal relationships between riders and staff were discouraged. During Grand Tours, he says, he could be assigned a different masseur every few days.
“They didn’t appreciate friendships developing,” he said. “For every rider, that massage is a moment to relax, or a moment to get things off your chest, call your wife or simply talk through the day.”
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“We had just won!”
The clearest racing example Roche gives came at the 2020 Tour de France, during a campaign in which Sunweb won three stages.
On the road to Saint-Étienne, Roche says the riders adapted the planned tactics during the stage. Søren Kragh Andersen went on to take the victory, but an hour later Roche was sitting beside the sports director when a call came through from team boss Iwan Spekenbrink.
“He wanted to know why we hadn’t been in the breakaway,” Roche recalled. “We had just won! I thought: OK, this belief in the process and trust in the protocol, that isn’t for me.”
“The mental pressure and stress are huge when you have to do something you don’t believe in,” Roche added. “When you create an environment where everything is so strict and leave no room for plans B and C, it is difficult to create motivation and a good atmosphere.”
Roche also stressed that his time at Sunweb was not entirely negative. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the team continued paying its riders, something he says he will always appreciate.
His time with the organisation ended in 2021. Roche rode his final professional race at the Irish national championships that October, bringing a 17-year career to a close.
Picnic PostNL has said it does not recognise itself in the overall picture presented by NOS Sport and In De Waaier, while stressing that differing experiences do not diminish the seriousness of the accounts now emerging. The team has commissioned an independent professional investigation into its culture and says it will implement any improvements identified by that process.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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