'We're up against entire countries': WorldTour team boss bemoans 'bizarre amounts' of money changing hands in the peloton

That was then, this is now. The feeling that Covid marked a watershed moment, the onset of a new normal, pervades many walks of life.

The number of people earning their pay behind their own front doors is the most obvious, perhaps. Spending habits have also been affected significantly, with far more of it done online. And, according to one team boss, Covid seems to have left a major financial mark on the men's WorldTour peloton.

“Cycling has changed in many ways since Covid,” said Iwan Spekenbrink, manager of the Picnic PostNL team – formerly dsm-firmenich PostNL, in an interview with Dutch outlet Wielerflits.

"Since Covid, a bizarre amount has changed in the peloton in terms of money," he said. “A lot of money has been added, especially from the Middle East. As a result, some budgets have exploded."

He added, "... Teams such as UAE Emirates. As a team, you are actually competing with entire countries, where the financial possibilities sometimes seem endless.

"However, we should not complain about that, because that is simply the reality. The challenge for us is how we can be successful against these teams.”

Dutchman Spekenbrink, who has been with Picnic and their previous iterations since 2021, said the financial changes had also filtered all the way down to very young riders, who were often paid huge amounts of money.

“It is extreme what some young boys are paid. Amounts that you used to only get paid if you had already been successful in the big tours, are now being paid to juniors," he said.

It's often said that money can't buy happiness, and Spekenbrink points out that big money team environments are not going to suit everyone.

"Not every talent fits within the working methods of those teams," he said. "It is also about the opportunities that young riders get and the training program that you offer them. At a team like UAE Emirates, those young talents can cycle at a high level, but their own results are often subordinate."

He also defended Picnic's ability to nurture talent, saying: "We have shown that we can develop young riders well. In that respect, we are certainly not inferior to those teams. In fact, I think we still do this better.”

And he also alluded to the fact that as often as not, it is the road, not the wallet that decides the outcome of races.

"Of course money is a factor. However, at the moment a race starts, you have opportunities," he said.