Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal will lose its title sponsor mid-season, Cibel returns to rescue the top team

Cyclocross team Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal will have to continue without main sponsor Bingoal. The gambling company will close on 1 January 2025 as a result of changing legislation in Belgium that prohibits gambling sponsorship in sports. The team of team manager Jurgen Mettepenningen has found a temporary sponsor in fruit and vegetable company Cibel. The team will thus be called Pauwels Sauzen - Cibel Clementines after New Year.

Cibel is not a new sponsor in the cycling echelons. The company previously run a Belgian continental team with several future pros coming through their ranks between 2014 and 2019. After closing down on the UCI level, the formation continued to operate on a smaller scale at the local scene, running a solid amateur team.

According to Mettepenningen, the collaboration with Cibel is a temporary solution. Jurgen De Witte (CEO of Cibel Clémentines) confirmed this at the press conference on Wednesday and said that it would be for a period of six months. In the course of 2025, another company which is currently active in football will join as the new main sponsor, it was further announced. It is not yet known which partner this will be.

However, Bingoal is not abandoning the team entirely. The betting company will continue to co-sponsor the cyclocross formation in a way compliant with the new rules. Clothing sponsor Vermarc, L.Brador (Swedish company in workwear) and Quick (fast food chain) will also join the Pauwels Sauzen cross team from 1 January 2025.

There has also been a change in the staff: Thomas Joseph succeeds Robby Cobbaert as sports director. The 27-year-old former cyclist of Tarteletto-Isorex joins Mario De Clercq in the team management, and will mainly focus on the road season with the team around leaders Eli Iserbyt and Michael Vanthourenhout. Cobbaert left earlier this year to join the technical staff of Visma | Lease a Bike.