Commonwealth Games silver medallist Michaela Drummond began this year on a high as a signed rider but what started as a dream run quickly became a nightmare.
Drummond joined Zaaf, a new Spanish professional cycling team filled with talented female athletes, which she told 1News was the "huge opportunity" she'd been looking for.
"The budget of the team was going to be four million euro for five years so for that sort of budget, it was going to be a high level team," Drummond said.
The journey started positively with Zaaf booking starts at some of the World Tour's top races and 25-year-old Drummond finished second at her first race of the year in The Tour Down Under's Schwalbe Classic.
But even at that first race of the season in January cracks started to show; equipment was limited and staff were inexperienced but more worryingly, money was tight and salaries weren't being paid.
"It got to the point where it came down to, 'what can I actually eat in this supermarket, what can I actually buy?' because after three months you're spending all your savings to keep alive."
The team continued to assure the riders they would be paid, using excuses about the money being stuck in Dubai and as it was a new team, Drummond said the riders decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.
As a track cyclist with Cycling New Zealand Drummond was lucky — she had funding to keep her going, but some of her teammates were left not being able to pay their rent.
As time went on and the money still didn't eventuate one by one riders left, meaning the team now doesn't meet the minimum rider requirement from UCI and has all but been disbanded.
Drummond's found a new team, Farto BTC, another Spanish team but a smaller one this time. The only catch is she needs approval from the Spanish Cycling Federation to race for them and she's still chasing it.
"It's Olympics next year, this is going to effect my career."
Road racing is an important part of her training as a New Zealand track cyclist and she attributes her time spent on the road over the past two years as a key factor in her recent success on the velodrome.
At Birmingham's Commonwealth Games she won individual silver in the Scratch Race and another in the Team Pursuit.
Zaaf was meant to help her on her road to Paris 2024.
"I really thought this was my big break, and now that it's kind of gone it does make me question what the next years look like."
The Zaaf team director lives in Andorra where Drummond is currently based and she said in an awkward encounter between the two he tried to again assure her she would be paid.
"I haven't seen any money to this day, I don't know how he expects us to believe him if I'm honest."
There is a chance she'll recoup some of her lost earnings as the UCI requires teams to pay a bond up front as part of their registration but more important to Drummond is being able to get back on the road and put this chapter behind her.
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