Tom Dumoulin and Mathieu van der Poel could both be receiving their paycheques from the same source, following news that travel company Sunweb is acquiring the Corendon Holiday Group.
Sunweb sponsors the German WorldTour team of Dumoulin, Michael Matthews and Chad Haga, winner of the Giro d'Italia's time trial on Sunday (June 2) in Verona.
"Final agreement is still subject to regulatory approvals and to employee consultation procedures," according to a statement from Sunweb's parent company Triton. "Terms of the transaction are not disclosed."
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Swedish investment company Triton bought Sunweb in February 2019. Now via Sunweb it bought Corendon – another Dutch travel group and the sponsor of rising star Mathieu van der Poel.
The 24-year-old Dutchman raced the Classics this year for the Corendon-Circus team after a hugely successful cyclocross season that saw him win the CX World Championships.
He placed fourth in Ghent-Wevelgem, won the Dwars door Vlaanderen, led the star group over the final Paterberg climb in the Tour of Flanders after chasing back from a crash, and then won the Brabantse Pijl and the Amstel Gold Race.
Van der Poel is now building for the 2020 Tokyo Games mountain bike event, winning his first World Cup last week.
Dumoulin won the 2017 Giro d'Italia and the World Championship time trial, and in 2018 placed second in both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France.
It is uncertain if the acquisition will see the team's merge down the road.
"We are not involved in the acquisition of Corendon by Triton," Corendon-Circus team boss Christoph Roodhooft told Het Laatste Nieuws.
"We have been aware of the news for a while, but as far as I am concerned that has no consequences for our team. We do not know the marketing plans."
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Corendon has a contract with the Roodhooft brothers Philip and Christoph through 2021.
"The merger of Sunweb and Corendon is a natural and logical step," said Gert de Caluwe, CEO of Sunweb Group of the acquisition.
"For the last years, both Sunweb and Corendon have managed to stay ahead as competitors in an ever-changing travel industry."
