Former Paris-Roubaix winner John Degenkolb took to Instagram on Monday to rebut allegations that his team, Picnic-PostNL, operates in a 'culture of fear' and an 'unsafe working situation' following a damning report by NOS Sport and De Waaier.

Writing in German, Degenkolb said in his ten years with the organisation out of 16 years as a pro cyclist, he had never experienced a "culture of fear" either in his first stint with the team when it was Argos-Shimano from 2012 to 2016, or "after my deliberate return to the team in 2022".