Roche adds his voice, speaks out against Picnic PostNL: 'Management isn't cut out for cycling'

The 42-year-old Irishman signed with Team Sunweb in 2019. As a 35-year-old rider, he was expected to bring the necessary experience to the climbing team built around Tom Dumoulin. But after a year, he felt less and less at home with the Dutch team. “At first, I thought it was okay,” Roche told the NOS. “In 2020 and 2021, that changed completely.”

As an example, he cites a training camp from January 2021. The team had just finished a short training session. “I needed to build up my volume, so I sometimes did longer training sessions. Once, when I returned an hour later, the staff was already waiting for me. Among them were sports director Rudi Kemna and head of science Narelle Neumann.”

It surprised Roche a little. The words that followed surprised him even more. “They literally said, ‘We don’t care if you do more or less, but you do what you’re told.’” “Uh, sorry?” I said. “Am I getting a warning now because I trained an hour longer? What the hell?” That’s when I realised it was going to be a tough year.”

It was certainly a tough year. For the Irish climber, his final year in cycling was no picnic. “We went from one conflict to the next. I had problems mainly with management. If I voiced my opinion, that was a problem because it went against their protocol and plans.” Roche draws harsh conclusions about that rigid attitude.

"I don't think this management style is suitable for cycling. In cycling, we have to deal with a great many variables. It's not a predictable sport. The human body isn't a perfect machine. We have to deal with weather conditions as well as the tactics of 24 other teams. I understand that people want a master plan to be prepared, but they can’t plan the 17th stage of the Tour de France as early as May. And that’s exactly what they did.”

Roche talks about the Tour stage won by Søren Kragh Andersen in 2020. The team was celebrating. “An hour later, I was sitting next to the team director. Then I got a call from the boss, Iwan Spekenbrink. He asked why we weren’t part of the breakaway. We’d just won! I thought: Okay, that belief in the process and trust in the protocol—that’s not for me.”

Martijn Tusveld and coach Adriaan Helmantal, among others, spoke about the difficult circumstances within the team. Roche agrees. “The mental pressure and stress are immense when you have to do something you don’t believe in. When you create an environment where everything is so rigid and you leave no room for Plan B or C, it’s hard to foster motivation and a positive atmosphere.”

For example, many former employees developed mental health issues. “I mainly felt frustrated,” says the Irishman. “I was angry and not very happy, but I have to be honest: there were also things that weren’t so bad. There’s one thing I’d like to emphasize: during the COVID-19 pandemic, only five teams continued to pay their riders. This team was one of those five. I’ll always be grateful to them for that.”

The iron fist with which the sport was ruled took on bizarre forms. “It wasn’t looked upon favorably to maintain friendships. I find that strange. I remember that in the Grand Tours, I got a different masseur every three days. For every rider, that massage is a moment of rest, or a chance to get something off your chest, call your wife, or just go over the day’s events.”

Roche was the road captain of the Dutch team. An important role—someone who isn’t afraid to speak his mind. But the culture of fear within the team meant that even he felt compelled to keep quiet. “Often when I asked a question, I was told I was asking too many questions.” And so, for him, it ended on a sour note.

"They pushed me toward the exit. Rudi Kemna told my manager that I had too much influence over the young riders. That they listened to me and didn't follow protocol. My experience became a problem for management. They were very straightforward about it. The only problem was: they didn’t appreciate it when I was just as straightforward. It was never okay when my opinion didn’t align with what they wanted to hear. That was the problem for me.”