Friday, November 17, 2023 at 6:29 pm
Yentl Vandevelde has signed a contract with Flanders-Baloise. The Belgian racer was unexpectedly forced to leave TDT-Unibet at the end of 2023, despite giving the team its biggest win of last season. It seemed like Vandevelde couldn’t find a new team for a long time, but now he has succeeded.
At the end of September, the 23-year-old contestant received bad news from TDT-Unibet. “I’ve been told that I can’t stay with the team. I’ve been given the excuse that I won’t be able to cope at the level next year. It’s incredibly strange. I asked several times why I couldn’t stay, but I never got a clear answer. (.. .) It all seems ungrateful. I’m the rider with the team’s biggest victory (stage victory in the ZLM Tour, ed.), but I’m not allowed to stay.
After weeks of searching, it was not possible to form a new team. “I contacted almost every team, because I don’t have a technical director. Every time I was told that it was too late, that they were full. Or maybe they underestimated me, because I drove a lot in the service,” Vandevelde said in a conversation with Cycling.
Flanders Baloise still finds a place in Vandevelde’s selection. Belgian team ProContinental offered Vandevelde a two-season contract.
