Picnic PostNL team owner Iwan Spekenbrink has spoken out following allegations of "a culture of fear" within the team, refuting the claims brought forward by an investigation conducted by Dutch media outlets NOS Sport and In De Waaier. Initially reported in October, the investigation, which heard testimony from 71 individuals employed by Picnic PostNL, alleged an "unsafe working situation."

In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Spekenbrink rejected the investigation’s accusations, calling them "misleading" though he accepted that certain former employees had negative experiences, with one former coach, Adriaan Helmantel, describing the team’s organisation as "a dictatorship."