“We were lucky if we even saw half a million [as a team], I’d say,” says the former rider.
“There was even no money at team camps and other stuff they didn’t pay for. There were big bills.
“I know there were other riders still owed money – a lot of it.”
It all began with some modest results, but a 15th place at the 2025 Women’s Tour of Britain was about as good as it got in the bigger races, and the team never made it above ‘continental’ level, which is the third tier of women’s road cycling.
The rider says: “There were reasonable money issues from the start where riders were paid late or wouldn’t get reimbursements.
“It pushes you into [bad] situations.”
And it wasn’t just the riders – business partners who supplied the team with equipment are owed a lot of money.
One mechanic – who asked to remain anonymous through fear of having any future employment jeopardised – claims to have had to find hire vehicles a day before a race upon landing at an airport to discover nothing had been arranged.
As well as trying to prepare bikes and equipment – while finding his own way to pay for it.
Money was promised to be settled at various stated points since the team’s demise in August last year, but the latest statement from Hess says ”negotiations regarding funding is ongoing despite headwinds and a difficult market situation”.
Some have been waiting to be paid for a year.
In a statement Hess said: “Unfortunately, [our] sponsor withdrew from the partnership at the beginning of 2025.
“Hess Sports Group continued to fund operations, contributing more than £200,000 over the course of summer 2025, while working to enable the team to compete under a financially sustainable model.
“This shortfall in funding had a material impact on our operations, but allowed our athletes to compete while we worked on securing the team’s future.
“Hess Sports Group remains committed to repaying all its creditors.”
At the outset, Hess the man was full of passion for the project, and praise for the athletes.
But there were plenty of other distractions given the Hess Group includes oil and gas producer Carraigmore, water purification companies and make-up businesses.
The civil claim initiated against a group which includes the director of the cycling team was in Spain, over accusations of misleading investors for the delayed floating of a water company on the stock market. The allegations are denied.
Norbert Stocker, a member of the cycling team’s management, told BBC Sport the loss of a title sponsor occurred after the sponsor was spooked over the allegations relating to the water company.
“To influence the commercial negotiations with equity investors in a separate company, the cycling team was targeted to exert pressure, even though it is wholly unrelated,” he said.
“Although all the claims are unfounded, media speculation destabilised the relationship with the cycling team’s core external sponsor.”
