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Hess Cycling Team

Hess Cycling Team is an amateur British continental cycling team that made its debut in 2023.

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a licence, that current staff and riders had not been paid at the start of the 2025 season and that the team had withdrawn from their first block of races.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

Source:[7][8]

Rider Date of birth
 Danique Braam (NED) (1995-09-09) 9 September 1995 (age 29)[9]
 Elisabeth Ebras (EST) (2004-07-22) 22 July 2004 (age 20)
 Betty Hasse (USA) (2002-09-26) 26 September 2002 (age 22)
 Grace Lister (GBR) (2004-05-27) 27 May 2004 (age 20)
 Alice McWilliam (GBR) (1995-07-23) 23 July 1995 (age 29)
 Maeve Plouffe (AUS) (1999-07-08) 8 July 1999 (age 25)[10]
 Natalie Quinn (USA) (2001-12-23) 23 December 2001 (age 23)
Rider Date of birth
 Holly Ramsey (GBR) (2005-12-04) 4 December 2005 (age 19)
 Kate Richardson (GBR) (2002-09-12) 12 September 2002 (age 22)
 Laura Lizette Sander (EST) (2004-05-15) 15 May 2004 (age 20)
 Laura Süßemilch (GER) (1997-02-23) 23 February 1997 (age 28)
 Liv Wenzel (LUX) (2004-01-08) 8 January 2004 (age 21)
 Esther Wong (IRL) (2006-02-18) 18 February 2006 (age 19)
 Elena Wu-Yan (USA) (1996-10-07) 7 October 1996 (age 28)

Major wins

Sources:[11][12][7]

2023
 Israel National Time Trial Championships, Rotem Gafinovitz
2024
 Israel National Time Trial Championships, Rotem Gafinovitz
 Israel National Road Race Championships, Rotem Gafinovitz
 Luxembourg National Under23 Road Race Championships, Liv Wenzel

Partnerships

2025

In October 2024, Hess Cycling Team announced a three-year sponsorship agreement with OFX, starting in 2025. Under this agreement, it was confirmed that OFX will become the main sponsor of Hess Cycling Team.[13]

Other sponsors :

References

  1. ^ "Hess Cycling Team Announces Sponsorship Deal with OFX | OFX (NZ)". OFX (NZ). 4 October 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  2. ^ "Hess: Meet the British-focused women's cycling team with big ambitions and a lot of money". BBC Sport. 25 October 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  3. ^ "Hess: british-continental-team-insist-they-will-race-in-2025-despite-fraud-accusations-against-swiss-backer". Cycling Weekly. 30 January 2025. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  4. ^ "Hess:reports-of-missed-payments-and-rider-departures-at-british-team-hess-cycling-as-uci-registration-not-yet-confirmed". Cycling News. 14 March 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  5. ^ "Hess:british-team-blocked-from-competing-in-key-spring-classics". Cycling Weekly. 9 April 2025. Retrieved 11 April 2025.
  6. ^ "Hess: UCI registration". Instagram. 21 March 2025. Retrieved 11 April 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Hess Cycling Team 2025". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  8. ^ "New Rider and Staff Line-Up for 2025 Season – Hess Sports Group". hesssportsgroup.com. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  9. ^ Mitchell, Mathew (9 December 2024). "Danique Braam joins Hess Cycling for 2025 season". ProCyclingUK.com. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  10. ^ Smith, Sophie (1 February 2025). "Maeve Plouffe lands new team after off-season 'scramble'". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  11. ^ "Hess Cycling Team 2023". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  12. ^ "Hess Cycling Team 2024". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  13. ^ "Hess Cycling Team Announces Sponsorship Deal with OFX". Hess enterprises.