Pro cycling team hit out at SRAM "problems", claim chains "fail" when riders "put a lot of force on the pedals"

If the chains snap that is lack of build quality or material..
I did my personal testing on winter commuting and found the sram chain was of lesser quality then ybn, kmc and shimano .

CX is brutal in terms of forces acting on the chain. A single, technical kick at 40 RPM by Iserbyt with a small chainwheel might put more load on the chain than a big sprinter at 100 RPM on a big chainwheel.

Nevertheless, SRAM have a problem: German Tour magazine tested chains, Rival, Force and Red had far more wear than anyhting else, but Force was the only chain to break - three(!) times within 20 hours - in other words, 3 of 232 chain plates must have failed, 1.3% of all plates. If 1.3% is realistic, then a Force chain of 232 chain plates will brake in this test with more than 95% probability!

(Obviously, one could argue that this chain consisted of a single bad batch of links, that the test was brutal and not realistic - but then, Shimano and Campag chains passed test with flying colours...)

I know that in independent tests on 10 and 11 speed chains, the SRAM chains always came out bottom in terms of drivetrain efficiency. Lots of people therefore used Shimano chains on their SRAM groups. That was one reason why SRAM made their 12-speed chain incompatible with other brands, and apparently even if they've sorted out the efficiency, they may have compromised durability. (Of cousre, with a 10-tooth cog and smaller chainrings, efficiency is always going to be reduced compared to larger, more efficient tooth counts). I already avoid SRAM for so many reasons, this is yet one more to add to the list.

Mechanicals and punctures are a part of off-road racing, you have to accept it might happen. It might as simple as a faulty batch, which isn't unheard of.

Sram have helped riders win plenty of races, World championships more than they've lost - I'm sure N1no lost a World Cup win due to a Sram issue, but I don't recall Frischi calling Sram out. 

As Nys's Trek team are not part of Trek Factory Racing, who are all on Sram, it's possible they move to Shimano if he isn't satisfied.

Sven not so Nys?   Not a great way to treat a supplier.   Could be worse though - could be the cranks like Shimano.   But his son won so why say this?

Um, did the European Championships actually happen?

Can't see any report on road.cc

If a chain fell between the spokes and the cassette, it's a set up issue not the feckin chain 🙄