The Picnic PostNL investigation into team culture has widened after journalist Thijs Zonneveld said reporters were intimidated during a visit to the team’s service course in Deventer.

Zonneveld, presenter of the In de Waaier podcast, was part of the reporting team behind an investigation published a day later. He said he and colleagues from NOS went to Deventer after sending the team 23 questions on Monday.

The reporters wanted to give team management an opportunity to respond to allegations before publication. Instead, Zonneveld said the meeting quickly became confrontational inside the team’s headquarters.

Speaking in a video interview with WielerFlits at the Eneco Tour, Zonneveld said the journalists had entered what felt like an "ambush". He said around 25 people stood around them in the central hall of the service course.

According to Zonneveld, staff shouted at the reporters during the encounter. He also said Marloes Poelman, one of the team’s managers, tried to take away a phone.

Picnic PostNL investigation prompts disputed account

Picnic PostNL disputes Zonneveld’s version of events. The team questioned whether he had kept to the arrangements made before the visit.

The team also said it offered NOS a meeting to discuss its philosophy and vision. According to the team, the broadcaster declined that proposal. No member of management answered the 23 questions submitted on Monday.

Zonneveld said team leadership ultimately chose not to respond to the substance of the reporting. He said management did not answer questions in person, in writing, or on camera.

He argued that without a response from leadership, the reporters could not include the team’s perspective. He also expressed concern for employees who may have spoken to journalists while still depending on the team for work.

Zonneveld is a former professional cyclist and a prominent Dutch cycling commentator. He also works in the sporting management of BEAT CC p/b Saxo. He is known in the sport as an outspoken and well-informed voice.

Allegations centred on team culture

The investigation relied on confidential interviews with 71 current and former employees. It set out allegations of a culture of fear under team manager Iwan Spekenbrink and sport director Rudi Kemna.

Spekenbrink declined to comment for the investigation, either in person or in writing. Only two people spoke on the record: former rider Martijn Tusveld and Adriaan Helmantel, who coached at the team from 2013 to 2018.

Both criticised what they described as a change in mentality at the team. Helmantel said the team became a "dictatorship" after its early success, with management controlling decisions and limiting rider input.

Tusveld said he suffered with mental illness after his career. His account formed part of the broader reporting into the working environment around the team.

After publication, Picnic PostNL announced it would commission an independent investigation. The team said it did not recognise the overall picture presented, while acknowledging the seriousness of the accounts.

In its statement, the team said differing experiences do not reduce the seriousness of the stories now public. It said the review would examine how team culture is experienced in practice, and whether that matches the culture it seeks to build.