British women’s team Hess Cycling collapses

British Continental women’s team Hess Cycling has collapsed citing the pressures of increasing budgets in the sport.

The collapse follows a turbulent year for the team with a fraud investigation into its owner’s business and allegations of missed payments to riders.

Founded in 2023 under a licence from the Luxembourg cycling federation, Hess registered as a British squad one year later and vowed to become "Britain's leading professional women's team" with the aim of competing in the Tour de France Femmes. However, the team will no longer operate.

In a joint statement posted on Instagram on Monday, team owner Rolf Hess alongside managers Norbert Stocker and Pirmin Lang said: “In the past years cycle sport has become increasingly competitive with huge increases in annual budgets.

“During this year it became clear that a successful future for our team can only be secured by cooperating with a much stronger team and organisation. Until last week we were sure this could be achieved, unfortunately this is no longer the case and we have concluded to terminate Hess Cycling Team with immediate effect.”

The management team thanked the fans for their support and said they “regretted any inconvenience caused”.

The team, which is part of a wider Hess Sports Group with investment in the Waterford FC football team alongside cycling, has racked up four podium finishes nationally and internationally this year alongside a raft of top tens.

Most notable among them were Alice McWilliam's victory at the East Cleveland Classic and and Grace Lister’s third place at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix.

However, the squad also had a turbulent year. In January it emerged the team’s founder, London-based Swiss businessman Rolf Hess, was under investigation in Spain following fraud allegations against his firm United Global Water Holdings Limited (UGW).

The team was also late to getting its UCI licence and didn’t take to the start line in a UCI race until April.

In the same period a report by Mathew Mitchell at ProCyclingUK said that payments to riders and staff for December 2024 were not fulfilled until February 2025.

By the end of March the team had seen six riders depart. Among them was Kate Richardson who had joined the team at the start of the year but had left by the end of March to join Handsling Alba Development Road Team, where she would go on to win the Tour de Feminin and the National Criterium Championship.

Announcing the collapse Hess, Stocker and Lang added: “We continue to be driven by our deep commitment to sport, community and especially the empowerment of female athletes.

“We are incredibly proud of what Hess Cycling Team has achieved. We came from nothing and were ranked as the top British Female Cycling Team, something that we are very proud of. We are deeply grateful for your unwavering support throughout this journey. Your cooperation has been instrumental in helping us build a team that inspired, competed and represented our shared values with integrity and passion.

“While this chapter closes our dedication to sport remains strong.”