The troubles at the Zarf Cycling Team continue to worsen, with a number of players leaving the team for non-payment of salaries.

Audrey Cordon-Lagotte was the first and most high-profile rider to leave the team in early April, followed by at least five others.

American rider Heidi Frantz and Canadian champion Maggie Coles-Leister have now both announced that they will no longer play for the team.

Last week, Lizzie Stannard signed with Israel Premier Tech-Roland, and Michael Drummond, also from New Zealand, has apparently moved on.

Dutch female rider Mareil Meijering has also left, and to date six riders have been confirmed to have left the Zarf team, which started the season with 15 registered riders.

Given the team's apparent financial crisis, the UCI indicated to Cycling News that riders would be allowed to terminate their contracts and sign with another team if they had "compelling reasons."

Several Zarf riders claim that they have not been paid since the beginning of this year. Bank guarantees submitted to the UCI by all teams cover three months of salary, but the funds will not be available until the end of March 2024. With no guarantee that they will be able to collect the outstanding payments after April, the UCI, after investigating the teams, allowed the athletes to unilaterally terminate their contracts, and many of them decided to do so.

"Due to the problems and worsening situation with the Zarf Cycling Team, I can no longer continue to race for them," Coles-Leister said in a statement.

"Much love to the riders who have been my sisters on this journey. It's funny how something like this can bring people closer together than ever before. An honorary shout out to those who have been with me through my stress and tears this year, here's to many positive and good vibes for the rest of 2023."

Coles-Leister, like Cordon Lagotte, signed with Zarf after the collapse of the B&B Hotels project, traveled to his native Canada to compete in the Track World Cup in Milton.

"The last six months have been stressful, from B&B Hotels to the ZAAF Cycling Team, it's been like a whirlwind of highs and lows, stress, excitement about getting back to racing in Europe, and a lot of question marks," she said.

"Now I want to take a breather and put all this energy into the Milton Nationals Cup this week and sort out what the rest of the year will look like.

Another rider racing on a Canadian track this week is Mikaela Drummond, who joined Zarf after racing with the BePink team the previous two seasons.

"The past few weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions, to say the least, with issues within the Zarf Cycling team," Drummond said.

"I am grateful for all the wonderful people I have met and am devastated for all the people involved in this awkward situation. I am going to Canada for the 3rd Nations Cup with the national team. I can't wait to race my bike again."

"Where I go after that is still a mystery, but if any team has a slot, I'm ready to train hard and do it.

Heidi Franz also became the third rider in the 24 hours. She, too, was one of the participants in a B&B project that never saw the light of day, moving from the US to Europe in the process. She ended up working for Zaaf, but it was not a safety net.

"Being a professional bike rider in 2023 is quite difficult at the moment. The problems and situation within the Zaaf Cycling team kept getting worse, and it was no longer possible for me to stay with the team."

"I was not able to stay with the team because of the problems and the situation within the Zaaf Cycling team," she said.

"When you put your entire life on the line to move to a new country for a second chance to make your dreams a reality, the stress when it all starts to fall apart is beyond description. The stress of wondering if you have made the wrong decision, if you have trusted too much, if you have lost faith in yourself.

"I don't mean to exaggerate, but the last seven months have been truly heartbreaking. But at the same time, we've experienced incredible kindness, support, and compassion from so many people, new friends and old, 100% that's how we've kept going and kept our compass pointed north."

Franz will line up with the U.S. national team at the Festival Elsie Jacobs next weekend, but beyond that her future is uncertain.