CCC Team are now letting their riders search for new contracts as management have not yet found a new sponsor for 2021.
The Polish WorldTour team, currently home to Greg Van Avermaet and Matteo Trentin, is facing an uncertain future as its headline sponsor CCC has cut its contract short due to the coronavirus crisis.
Team boss Jim Ochowicz has been on the hunt for a new backer, but on Tuesday (August 19) CCC Team announced contracted riders were free to explore other options for 2021.
The news came as Fausto Masnada, the Giro d’Italia stage winner who joined CCC at the start of 2020, would be making a mid-season transfer to Deceuninck - Quick-Step.
CCC Team said in a statement: “Without a new title sponsor secured for 2021, contracted riders have been given the freedom to explore other options for the coming season.
“Fausto Masnada was presented with an opportunity to transfer mid-season to Deceuninck - Quick-Step and after consultation with Fausto, we have agreed to allow the transfer to take place.”
Masnada is the first contracted CCC rider to leave the team early, while the team’s talisman rider Greg Van Avermaet will be transferring to AG2R La Mondiale next season as his contract comes to an end at the close of the season.
Deceuninck has signed Masnada to fill a place in the squad opened up due to injury, with Masnada due to make his debut with the team at the Italian National Championships.
News of CCC Team’s difficulty emerged in June when Ochowicz confirmed Polish shoe company CCC would be pulling out due to its own financial uncertainty caused by coronavirus.
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The team, formerly BMC Racing, have also struggled for results this year and are yet to win a race in 2020, before or after lockdown.
