Hess Cycling Team
International women's cycling team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hess Cycling Team was a professional women's cycling team that competed at the UCI Women's Continental level. The team was active from 2023 to 2025 and was owned by Swiss businessman Rolf Hess. Originally licensed in Luxembourg, the team later moved to a British license.
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- Luxembourg (2023)
- Great Britain (2024–)
- UCI Women's Continental Team (2023–2024)
- Club Team (2025–)
At the Tour of Britain in 2025 | |
| Team information | |
|---|---|
| Registered |
|
| Founded | 2023 |
| Discipline | Road Cycling |
| Status |
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| Key personnel | |
| General manager | Pirmin Lang |
| Team managers |
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| Team name history | |
2023– | Hess Cycling Team |
History
Hess Cycling Team was established in 2023 as a professional women's road cycling team. In 2025 the team secured a three-year sponsorship agreement with OFX.[1] Initially, the team raced under a Luxembourg license before transitioning to a British racing license in 2024. Owned by Rolf Hess, under Hess Sports Group, the team aspires to become the first British Women's WorldTour team. The organisation is focused on expanding its presence in both domestic and international races, aiming to build on its initial successes and attract additional talent.[2]
On January 30th 2025 the cycling press in the UK reported that the team’s owner, Swiss businessman Rolf Hess, was under investigation for fraud in Spain. It then quickly came to light that the team did not, in fact, have the requisite UCI licence to race in 2025. It was further reported that the reason the UCI was withholding the team’s licence was because Hess had not paid riders, staff and creditors for the 2024 season.[3]
On March 14th 2025, the UK cycling press again reported that the team were still without a licence, that current staff and riders had not been paid at the start of the 2025 season and that the team had withdrawn from their first block of races.
Hess Cycling Team, having been adamant in statements to journalists in articles printed on March 14th 2025 that the team would have the required UCI licence by no later than March 17th and would commence its 2025 race program at the Midwest Cycling Classic in Belgium on 23rd March, subsequently withdrew from the event further fuelling concerns of pending collapse. As of 19th March 2025, Hess Cycling Team were still without a UCI licence.[4]
In early April 2025 it emerged that 5 riders; Laura Lizette Sander, Esther Wong, Natalie Quinn, Kate Richardson and Elisabeth Ebras had terminated their contracts with Hess Cycling during March, due to contractual breaches by the team. These included continual late payment of rider salaries and the fact that the team was not registered with the UCI.[5] On 21 March 2025,amid ongoing controversy, Hess Cycling Team announced that it had been granted a UCI licence, over 3 months after the official deadline for registration. [6]
Roster
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