Belgian professional continental team Wanty-Gobert will become Circus-Wanty Gobert starting in 2020, it has been announced. At the same time, the casino and sports betting company will withdraw from co-sponsoring the Corendon-Circus team, which currently includes cyclocross and road star Mathieu van der Pol.

Hilaire Van der Schueren's team was originally going to be called Wanty Gobert-Tormans next season. Tormans, a Belgian recruitment company, will continue to be involved in road team sponsorship, but with both riders leaving Telenet Baloise Lions in the New Year, the new Tormans with Quinten Hermans and Corné van Kessel will be the title sponsor of the Cyclo Cross Team.

"Our intention is to continue our progress in both road and cyclocross," Van der Schullen said in a team press release. 'We want to be one of the best, if not the best cyclocross team in the world. In this regard, we want to strengthen our team with elite women and under-23 riders, instead of concentrating only on the pro men."

Meanwhile, Circus has been a small sponsor of Wantigo Vale since 2017, but stepped up to be the main sponsor of the road team for 2020.

"We will continue to target the position of the best UCI pro team in the world ranking for the next three years," Van der Schulen continued.

"Our partnerships with Circus and Tormans will strengthen our team financially and allow us to achieve our goals."

Emmanuel Muijsen, CEO of the Ardent Group, the parent company of Circus, said, "Following three great seasons with Wanty-Gobert, culminating in their success in the world's biggest race, the Tour de France, we want to support their breakthrough." He added.

"Strengthening our partnership with Wanty-Gaubert makes a lot of sense for us. And while the circus remains true to its Belgian roots, it is also developing internationally, with strong developments in French casinos, for example.

Het Nieuwsblad reported on Tuesday that Circus will step down from co-sponsoring the road and cyclo-cross team Corendon-Circus at the end of this season, quoting team general manager Philip Roodhooft: " Circus has moved to Wanty Gobert, while Corendon still has 2020 left on his contract.

This was confirmed by the UCI's announcement on Tuesday of the 2020 World Team (WorldTour) and ProTeam (the latter being the new name for the Pro Continental team).