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'Why were voices like mine left out of the investigation?' - John Degenkolb hits back at Picnic-PostNL criticism

Former Paris-Roubaix champion John Degenkolb has publicly challenged recent allegations of a 'culture of fear' within his current team, Picnic-PostNL, after a critical report by NOS Sport and De Waaier. In a German-language Instagram post, Degenkolb—who rode for the team during its previous incarnation as Argos-Shimano from 2012 to 2016 and returned in 2022—denied experiencing such an environment during his 10 years with the organization.

He questioned why his perspective, along with those of many others, was excluded from the investigation, which reportedly included interviews with 71 former and current riders and staff members. Degenkolb emphasized the team’s size—around 160 employees annually, including roughly 60 riders—while acknowledging that negative experiences exist but are not universal.

The report cited former coach Adriaan Helmantel and rider Nicolas Roche, who described a shift toward authoritarianism post-Tom Dumoulin’s 2017 Giro d’Italia victory, with riders allegedly being pushed out for asserting influence. Team leadership, including head coach Rudi Kemna and owner Iwan Spekenbrink, has since announced an independent review of the claims, though they declined to engage with the journalists during their reporting process.

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