The management of the Bigla Katusha women's team requested access to the UCI bank guarantee after the title sponsor withdrew funds during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

"Following the news received from our title partner, team management agreed to implement an immediate plan of action.

"Our first step will be to secure payments to staff and riders for the month of April. This will include requesting the UCI to release the bank guarantee."

A bank guarantee is a percentage of the team's overall budget that is placed in a blocked account at registration each season; the UCI can use this money to protect the rights of riders to receive payments if the team fails to meet its obligations.

A team's bank guarantee could pay up to three months of a rider's salary. However, due to the unforeseen nature of the global pandemic, it is unclear if now is the appropriate time to open these accounts or if riders will have access to the funds. Accessing these accounts too soon could also affect the health of the team.

It is usually the riders who apply for access to bank guaranteed funds, either through their national federation or the UCI.

Bigla Katusha announced last week that its future was in jeopardy after being informed that both of its title sponsors had withdrawn their funding. The team confirmed that its longtime sponsor, Bigla, had withdrawn 100% of its funding, and Katusha Sports had refused to pay team sponsor funds for the past month.

Katusha Sports became a co-sponsor this year, providing just under a third of the team's annual budget. The apparel brand is facing financial difficulties as a result of the pandemic and has confirmed that it has not produced any products for the past two months as its factory has been closed.

The players of the Bigla Katusha team wrote an open letter to their sponsors asking for their support to keep the team alive. On Tuesday, Katusha Sports launched a fundraising campaign to continue its support for the players and will donate profits from the sale of the women's team collection kits to the team.

Bigla Katusha also launched a fan support program, giving fans the ability to financially support the team through partners, as well as a crowdfunding campaign to secure funds for the short-term future.

The team's crowdfunding campaign was set up through a GoFundMe page, where the team has indicated a goal of CHF 170,000.

"We aim to be fully operational in 2020 to facilitate the preparation of our athletes for the World Championships and Olympic Games, and to become a World Tour team next year," the team statement reads.

." We are currently actively pursuing new sponsorship opportunities and believe that together with our existing and new partners we can successfully realize these goals."