Uproar in Cyclocross world: Young Dutch talent and Belgian team part ways with slamming doors

A hefty row has broken out in the cyclocross world. Top Dutch talent Mae Cabaca has broken her contract with Belgian team Deschacht-Hens-FSP. And that eventually led to a real discussion on social media.

Cabaca is known as one of the greatest talents in cyclocross. The 17-year-old Dutchwoman finished seventh in the juniors at the last World Championships and she has also shown her talent on the road several times. She won Gent-Wevelgem and finished sixth in the Tour of Flanders in her age group. Last weekend she finished tenth in the Elite cross at Heerderstrand. At the European Championships, which take place next weekend in Pontevedra, she leaves as top favorite in the juniors.

Since early 2023, Cabaca was under contract with Deschacht-Hens-FSP, the team that also includes Toon Aert. Recently signed to a three-year contract, she notified team manager Bart Verschueren in early September that she wanted to leave the team. "They did some things to us and I can't deal with that," Claudio Cabaca, Mae's father, told Wielerflits.

"It all started when Mae wanted to ride her bike a little less. People forget that they are children, sometimes they just don't want to anymore. Also, we didn't think the material we were getting was enough. That was just really bad material. Mae got the leftovers. At the cyclocross World Championships, for example, she had to ride on tires that were three years old. That's not possible. The straw came when she was not allowed to go on training camp this summer. Everyone on the team was allowed to go, except Mae. I just can't stand it. We don't want anything to do with them anymore."

Verschueren and father Cabaca then got into a conversation and the team manager told his story about this to Het Nieuwsblad. According to Verschueren, Cabaca asked for a contract extension. "In a personal conversation I asked her what the reason was and she couldn't actually give it to me. I told her that we had done everything for her in the past year and that we didn't want to just throw that away.

That conversation clearly did not yield much, as Cabaca worked her first cyclocross of the season on a different bike and wore black clothing. It was clear, then, that she no longer wanted to ride for the Belgian team.

"Then I contacted the Dutch cycling association," Verschueren continued. "To the union, Mae had said that her contract was terminated by mutual agreement, which was therefore not the case. The KNWU (national team, ed.) then told Mae, 'You can't unilaterally break a contract, that's forbidden.'"

For the Deschacht-Hens-FSP team, Cabaca got her way and her contract was terminated. Yet this was not the end of this curious story, after all, under an Instagram message from the young cyclist about her season's start, an enraged Verschueren reacted as follows: "How dare you report this, no respect for your received material, neglected and not maintained and no respect at all for a signed contract, really hope you fail in everything you undertake, business wise you were already ruined a long time ago!"

Verschueren did not subsequently respond to his statements. It remains to be seen whether this story will have a legal tail.