Lifeplus Wahoo, Britain’s longest-running UCI Continental team and the only UK-based squad to take part in the current iteration of the Tour de France Femmes, will close at the end of 2024 and has ridden its last race, with team bosses citing a “lack of appetite” to continue struggling to compete at the highest level and with a “professional vision” on a minimum budget.
The news, the latest blow to the struggling British racing scene, comes just two months after Lifeplus Wahoo were hit by a shocking overnight raid at the Tour of Britain, when thieves targeted their base at a hotel in Shropshire, raiding their mechanic’s van and stealing all 14 of the squad’s bikes.
The repercussions of that bike theft – described at the time as “an absolute hammer blow to our over-achieving team already on a stretched budget” – along with the rising costs of running and maintaining a team, and a loss of sponsorship income due to the failure to secure an invite to this year’s Tour de France, were blamed by team managers and co-founders Bob and Tom Varney for the squad’s sudden demise.
Maddie Leech racing the 2024 British nationals in Saltburn-by-the-Sea (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Lifeplus Wahoo, which started out as the Drops Cycling Team in 2016, has been a constant fixture on the domestic and international racing scene over the past nine years, providing a platform for promising British stars such as Alice Barnes, Alice Towers, Joss Lowden, Lizzie Holden, and Maddie Leech, and earning invites to, and securing good placings at, top-tier races such as the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold, and Paris-Roubaix.
The team also took part in the first two editions of the revamped Tour de France Femmes in 2022 and 2023, with Maike van der Duin sprinting to three top six placings during the 2022 edition, and Ella Wyllie finishing 16th overall last year.
Riding to sign-on at the 2023 Tour de France Femmes (ASO/Thomas Maheu)
However, according to Bob and Tom Varney, the controversial failure to secure an invite to this year’s Tour has led to the loss of sponsor bonuses, while the British squad has also failed to attract a title partner willing to stump up the budget required to cover the minimum wages necessary to compete from next year at women’s cycling’s new second-tier ProTeam level.
“We are very sad to announce that Drops Cycling – currently racing as Lifeplus Wahoo – Britain’s most successful and longest running UCI women’s team, will close at the end of the year,” the co-founders announced in a statement yesterday.
“Despite securing a full stable of premium product partners for 2025, we have been unable to sell the naming rights for a figure commensurate with the budget required for a UCI Pro Team Licence application.
“Our aim has always been to progress to Pro Team level and ultimately become a World Tour team. With uncertainty surrounding the viability of the project at Continental level, we no longer have the appetite to struggle to deliver our professional vision on a minimum budget at this largely unregulated level.”
(ASO/Thomas Maheu)
They continued: “With the ever-rising cost of racing, loss of sponsor bonus income without TDFF participation, the recent bike thefts, and an ongoing partnership dispute due to unpaid instalments we have sadly raced our last race.
“We thank our global fan base for their loyal support over the past nine years and send the international peloton our best wishes for the future.”
As noted by the Varneys, the squad’s shock collapse comes just two months after they were hit by an appalling overnight raid at the Tour of Britain, which saw the team’s participation in the race hang in the balance after all 14 of their bikes were stolen.
Ahead of the second stage of the revamped Tour in Wrexham, Lifeplus Wahoo announced on social media that thieves had targeted their base at a hotel in Shropshire, raiding their mechanic’s van and stealing the entirety of the squad’s fleet of Ribble bikes, leaving them without any bikes to race that morning’s stage – an act described by the squad’s co-founder Bob Varney as a “an absolute hammer blow to our over-achieving team already on a stretched budget”.
However, the squad were able to continue after several teams also taking part in the race, including SD Worx, Liv AlUla Jayco, Human Powered Health, and Cofidis, loaned the Lifeplus Wahoo riders bikes and equipment – with their mechanics also giving up their time to make sure everything was properly fitted – to ensure they could sign on in Wrexham.
Ribble then confirmed that afternoon that the company was sending a new fleet of their Endurance SLR bikes to the race to enable the team to continue on to the finish in Manchester.
That bitter blow also followed hot on the heels of one of Lifeplus Wahoo’s key riders, Kate Richardson, being ruled out of the Tour of Britain Women after suffering injuries when she was hit by an impatient driver who tried to overtake at “high speed” on a blind bend on a narrow country lane – and who then turned around to abuse the stricken cyclist.
Richardson, who won the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix in Ma, was training near Holmfirth in Yorkshire on Monday morning when she was hit by the motorist and suffered a refractured scapula, road rash, and an “incredibly bruised and swollen right hip”.
“Clearly the driver couldn’t wait ten more seconds to overtake me,” she said on Instagram at the time. “He decided to try and squeeze his huge 4×4 past me at a high speed, hitting me hard and knocking me off my bike.
“Initially, he just drove on but turned around and came back later to verbally abuse and threaten me before getting back in his car and driving off again. Thankfully another driver came across the scene pretty quickly and kindly helped me up and drove me home.”
23 thoughts on ““We have sadly raced our last race”: British cycling team who had 14 bikes stolen at Tour of Britain collapses, two months after overnight raid described as “absolute hammer blow to our over-achieving team on a stretched budget””
Given that the stolen bikes
Given that the stolen bikes were replaced by Ribble, I think the headline’s probably overstating the importance of the theft. It looks like that was probably just thrown into the list of factors as an “and another thing…”, and this is mostly just about a small team with typically precarious finances struggling for sponsor income.
Tbf the teams own press
Tbf the teams own press release stated it as a contributing factor, why would they mention it otherwise unless there was financial cost to the team ?
Probably because it was just
Probably because it was just another stress to management on top of the main factors.
There are two paragraphs about problems securing sufficient funding and the effect that’s had on their morale and motivation, and then just a throwaway mention of the theft in a list of complaints at the end.
stonojnr wrote:
because mdavidford doesn’t belive them.
Bob Varney has put years and many thousands of pounds into the team, they’ve had so many knockbacks and disappointments. I think that neither he nor Tom can see a future for it that doesn’t necessite constant struggling, begging and making-do, and so decided that they’ve given it their best shot and be done with it. Such a shame for a team that brought a lot to the scene. I’ve followed them since their inception and it’s such a shame that the team won’t be continuing.
Simon E wrote:
Not at all – I believe them, but it’s not them that’s playing it up as a major factor – it’s road.cc.
mdavidford wrote:
I imagine that the factor will be that they were paying for groupsets and finishing kit or similar and just receive frames from Ribble. Unlike WorldTour teams as well this team has to make do with their frames for several seasons just wrapping them for new paint schemes or sponsors
In their official closure
In their official closure post, they thanked Lifeplus, Wahoo and Maap for their sponsorship,help or assistance this season.
It’s called a headline.
It’s called a headline. Designed to attract attention/interest. Generally there has to be one on a news story. Other reasons for this team’s sad demise are listed in the article.
Well if that’s the only
Well if that’s the only purpose, they may as well have put “Team collapses – was it due to MIND CONTROL by BILL GATES??”
I mean it doesn’t matter if it accurately represents the story, as long as it gets clicks, right?
Gutted to hear about team
Gutted to hear about team folding. But how does this keep happening so often? Not just in small UK teams but to Pro world teams. Surely there must be a more secure method of locking bikes and tools safe overnight. Post a night watch security guard or park in a way that make it difficult to access the doors. Once in a while you can understand but I read about this happening at least once every few months or so.
There is no way of preventing
There is no way of preventing it. Park everything around your doors and you give them something to climb on and they peel back the roof of your vehicle. It’s been done many times. There is no point is spending more than the bikes are worth to secure things when if someone wants them, they will take them.
I’ve been at races where they have provided “security” but you’d trust them less than the thieves, so we’ve taken the motors and moved them elsewhere, sometimes we’ve slept in the truck/van/cars whatever overnight aswell, especially in rough places where the race has specifically told us there are people who will target the race.
well each bike was roughly £5
well each bike was roughly £5,000 rrp, 14 of them is nearly £70,000, you can spend alot on security with £70,000. It might be awkward but why not store the bikes in the rooms with the riders ?
stonojnr wrote:
Apart from the fact that – in my experience anyway, though chapeau to Travelodge for being an exception – hoteliers are pretty vehement about not letting one keep bikes in rooms, female riders (with no disrespect at all but these are often 50kg 150cm women) left two to a room with four bikes, wouldn’t the filth who commit these crimes see that as pretty low-hanging fruit? It would just be putting the riders at risk.
Definitely agree ref
Definitely agree ref Travelodge. I’ve stayed in the Battersea one a few times since the RideLondon start moved to Parliament Square. Nothing short of an exceptional welcome. They’ve had bad reviews because the place is a “bit tired” and “used by tradespeople” but every time, they’ve been welcoming with bike & luggage, to the point where the manager has opened the door to the back car park to make ingress easier and even offered a ground floor room once they know there’s a bike coming in. Probably down to the local manager but would thoroughly recommend. I’m already booked in again for next May.
then stick them all with the
then stick them all with the burly mechanics, or hire even burlier security folks to babysit them in a room for the night, you wouldnt leave a briefcase full of £70,000 in money sat outside in your car at a hotel at night would you ? why do we pretend bikes are different somehow ?
and youd like to think on a race that helps organise which hotels the teams stay in, theyd arrange ones that are cool with bikes in rooms. as most hotels actually are if you ask them nicely, Ive never had an issue doing it as damned if Im leaving my bike in a van outside to have some git nick it
Rendel Harris wrote:
I’ve never had an issue keeping my bike in my hotel room:
Permier Inn have a policy of allowing bikes in rooms.
Travelodge have always allowed my bike in the room.
Novotel were exceptionally helpful offering to keep it in a locked room if I’d prefer but were happy for me to keep it in my room.
The Hampton didn’t say anything about the bike in my room when there was a problem and they had to move me to another room so I guess it was OK – I hadn’t asked.
The only hotel that has been funny about it was The Moxy, the 2nd time I stayed there, but when I said they’d let me keep it in the room on the previous visit they allowed it.
My work sometimes involves meetings in hotels with meeting rooms. Most are happy for my bike (and sometimes a couple of colleagues’ bikes) to be in the meeting room. One or two don’t allow it but either have secure bike parking or will lock it in a store room.
Only one venue point blank refused to allow the bike in the building and inisted I park it in their wheelbender racks in the rain. When I said I’d just leave they finally relented and locked it in a first aid room in the basement. That was a football stadium, not a hotel. They were insistent that no other conference centre or hotel would allow bikes in the building and were surprised to be corrected on that.
I don’t doubt your experience
I don’t doubt your experience but you’ve been luckier than me, I reckon about 70% of hotels to whom I’ve made preliminary enquiries have said no bikes in rooms. That’s UK hotels, never had a problem on the continent. That’s useful to know that Premier Inn have a definite policy.
I’d add Ibis to the list of
I’d add Ibis to the list of hotel chains where I’ve had no probs having my bike in my room.
Premier Inn literally used to
Premier Inn literally used to do adverts with Team gb riders, and people with bikes in rooms for sportives or cycling holdiays, they’ve always been cool with it ime.
+1 for Premier Inn bikes in
+1 for Premier Inn bikes in rooms (their breakfast offering is usually pretty good too!).
https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/why/bike-friendly.html
I don’t buy that. This has
I don’t buy that. This has happened to world tour pro teams. Are you telling me they cannot afford decent security ? Smaller teams might struggle but the very top teams shouldn’t be getting caught out.
I know Inos, UAE and co.
I know Inos, UAE and co. spend tens of millions to create & maintain their squad of riders & the support team, but does anyone know what it costs to run a team like Lifeplus-Wahoo?
Capt Sisko wrote:
Difficult to say for sure, but when this team nearly folded in 2019 after Trek pulled out as title sponsor to move forward with their own team, Drops launched a crowdfunder to attempt to raise £250k which was stated as the amount required to replace revenue from a technical and title sponsor. Making some really big assumptions regarding organisations like this don’t exist to make a profit (if they do much more than break even, they could/should have spent the money on winning more), and the fact that on top of title & technical sponsor, there will be other associated sponsors providing cash, clothing, equipment, vehicles, etc the it would be fair to assume a team at this level needs at least £500k per annum to keep going. Probably more as the riders at this level aren’t paid enough and teams are always folding.