The economic impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has spilled over to the highest levels of cycling, with Team Ineos' main sponsor, a side venture partly owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of Britain's wealthiest men, seeking an emergency government loan of several hundred million pounds.

According to Sky News (opens in new tab), Petro Ineos, which is jointly owned by Team Ineos sponsor Ineos Group and Chinese state-owned company PetroChina, is seeking a £500 million loan after oil prices fell from a high of more than £50 per barrel in December to just over £15 last month. PetroIneos is negotiating with the British and Scottish governments to secure a massive loan package amounting to as much as 500 million pounds, following a drop in the price of oil from a high of more than 50 pounds per barrel in December to just over 15 pounds last month.

Ratcliffe sponsored the teams of Tour de France winners Egan Bernal, Geraint Thomas, and Chris Froome after Sky pulled out in May 2019.

In April, when asked about the financial security of team sponsorship, David Brailsford, head of Team Ineos, simply replied, "Some teams may suffer slightly more than others, depending on what type of business their main sponsor is in." and dodged the question.

Team Ineos' annual budget is estimated at over 40 million pounds, the highest in the sport.

Petroineos' move to seek emergency financing coincides with that of CCC, owned by billionaire Dariusz Mirek. The Polish shoe company is in talks with banks to secure funding for the next 12 months and plans to end its sponsorship of the Eponium World Tour team at the end of this season.

The CCC team has cut player salaries in half and laid off all but a few staff members in order to sustain them for the remainder of the season. Other teams, including Astana, Lotto Soudal, Bahrain Merida, and Mitchelton Scott, also cut salaries.

Astana, also dependent on the oil industry, said it could not survive if racing did not resume, and Bigla Katusha decided to use UCI bank guarantees to pay its riders after its sponsors abruptly withdrew their funds.

UCI President David Lapartient acknowledged the seriousness of the problem in sponsor-driven sports.

"We know that three, four, five teams have more problems than others. We hope they all make it to the end of the season."

However, the UCI is struggling with its own cost-cutting measures and has had to temporarily lay off 130 staff.

"Our union is experiencing a crisis not seen since World War II," said Lapartiento.

"Unfortunately, we are not a bank. We are working hard on our calendar so that we can host races. That's the only way we can provide oxygen to the teams."