Team performance head Demko banned for 10 years for ethics code breaches

Sept 19 - Ladislav Demko, former head of performance at the UCI Women’s Continental Hess Team, has been banned from all cycling-related activity for 10 years by the International Cycling Union's ethics commission for multiple breaches of its ethics code.

The Ethics Commission, a body independent from the UCI, found that Demko had "fallen short" of the standards required by the ethics code and had abused his position of power.

It said an investigation had been opened following complaints from former staff members at Hess Cycling Team and from a rider who was in a consensual relationship with Demko while he was her coach, "concerning allegations of harassment and psychological abuse".

Demko had subjected the rider to isolation, humiliation, intimidation and infantilisation, the commission said in a statement.

Demko said the accusations stemmed from the frustrations of two staff who had been dismissed by the team.

"I am not willing to ruin my savings and have decided to walk away from the world of professional cycling for good," he told Reuters on Saturday.

The Slovak said that he had not yet exercised his right to file an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but would ask for the case to be reopened in the future.

He was ordered to pay a fine and the costs of the legal proceedings. The amounts were not disclosed.

Hess Cycling Team was founded in 2023 but in August 2025 owner Rolf Hess, a Swiss businessman, announced on Instagram that the team had ceased operations for financial reasons. REUTERS