The CCC team announced today that it has suspended contracts with the majority of its team support staff and will significantly reduce the salaries of all riders for the remainder of the 2020 season.

The team was forced to make the cuts after the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic and its effects resulted in the cancellation or postponement of most of the 2020 race season. In a statement announcing the decision to the media, CCC team president Jim Ochowicz said, "Significant attrition is a painful process and one that we could not have anticipated a few weeks ago."

The team's president, Jim Ochowicz, said, "The CCC team has been working hard to ensure that we have the resources to meet the needs of our customers.

"The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the business of our title sponsor, CCC, and like other professional cycling teams, we are now facing a cash flow shortfall due to unexpected cuts in sponsorship.

"This aspect of our business is beyond our control. We know we won't have a race until June at the earliest, but things are constantly changing and we can only act in the short term now."

"In order to have the budget to race when the season resumes, we have had to temporarily suspend all but a few of our staff, and have had to drastically cut riders' salaries. As soon as racing resumes, we hope to have as many support staff back as possible so we can revisit our budget," Ochowicz said.

On Thursday, a report on the Polish website Rowery detailed how billionaire Dariusz Mirek, head of Poland's leading footwear company CCC, is considering cutting costs. The company's stock price is reportedly down 90% compared to 2018, and first-quarter revenue is down 9% year over year.

In a press conference via videoconference Thursday afternoon, team star and 2016 Olympic road race champion Greg Van Avermaat acknowledged the financial problems facing the CCC and said that the team and its sponsors are aware of the pandemic He said he is open to the idea of a pay cut while the team and sponsors deal with ongoing financial issues caused by the pandemic. I think it's normal at a time like this," he said. 'I can't do my job 100 percent because I can't race. We should be loyal to our sponsors and support them in times of crisis. The most important thing for me is that they can step up again after this virus is over, and they have no problem sponsoring longer or going another year."

Ochowicz said his management team will continue to do all it can on behalf of sponsors and fans while waiting for the race to resume. He said, "We will do everything possible to keep the team alive during this period, and once the situation at Covid-19 improves we will get back on our feet."