Several riders and staff members on the Bahrain-Merida WorldTour team are still waiting for their two winter paychecks after "process issues" caused a series of delays in the team's payroll.

Team management told Cycling News that they are trying to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and intend to improve the process as part of the team's ownership transition.

Teams sometimes struggle with the timing of payments when sponsors or backers fail to meet agreed-upon payment schedules or incur unforeseen expenses. However, Cycling News reported that many of Bahrain-Merida's riders and staff are anxious about not receiving their paychecks repeatedly as the Christmas vacations approach.

The Bahrain Merida team refused to confirm the unpaid wages, but are confident the issue will be resolved soon. They insisted that funds were available but delayed.

"We have identified process issues that have caused payment delays for some team members and are working to remedy this as a priority," the team told Cycling News in a statement.

"The affected individuals have been contacted directly by the team. We expect this issue to be resolved soon and apologize for any inconvenience caused"

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"As part of the ownership transition of the team, we are simplifying the process to ensure clear and sustainable governance for the future.

UCI confirmed to Cycling News that it is aware of the situation, but appears to be satisfied that the payroll delays were caused by a complex transaction process and are a temporary issue.

Last winter, similar payment process problems occurred in Bahrain-Merida, and the team leader at the time, Vincenzo Nibali, agreed to a freeze on large salary payments for several months to ensure that funds were available to ensure that other riders and especially the hardworking team staff were paid. Eventually all salaries were paid.

Nibali will move to Trek-Segafredo in 2020, but according to UCI rules, his contract with Bahrain-Merida will expire on December 31, and his salary payments will be spread over 12 months, not the racing season. The contract with Bahrain Merida expires on December 31, and salary payments will be spread over 12 months, not the racing season. When contacted by Cycling News, Nibali and his entourage refused to talk about Bahrain Merida's nonpayment of salaries, but in an exclusive interview published Thursday, they were critical of other aspects of their work with the team.

Many different sources told Cycling News of the payroll issue.

Last week, the UCI confirmed that Bahrain McLaren had successfully completed the complex application process of recent months and had been awarded a World Tour license for 2020.

Teams must submit budgets, bank guarantees, and pass a financial check by an external auditor, and the UCI confirmed that Bahrain McLaren's application meets strict administrative, ethical, financial, and organizational criteria. The delay in payroll payment relates to the 2019 team and does not concern the 2020 team.

Bahrain-Merida will be known as Bahrain McLaren beginning in 2020. McLaren, like the other half of the cycling team, is controlled by Mumtalakat, a Bahraini sovereign wealth fund that owns a majority stake in the McLaren Group.

The team hired former Team Ineos performance director Rod Ellingworth as team manager, and McLaren's John Allert joined the team's managing director along with Slovenia's Milan Erzen, for 2020, Mark Cavendish, Wout Poels, and Mikkel Landa will join the new team.

Last week, the team unveiled its new orange and red colors and spoke enthusiastically about its future ambitions after the team's restructuring under Ellingworth.

Bahrain McLaren riders and staff will gather in Croatia next week for a winter training camp.