Rohan Dennis has been released from his contract with Bahrain-Merida, effective immediately.

Cycling News learned of the news this morning, and the team issued a statement directly. The team confirmed on September 13 that Dennis' two-year contract had been terminated.

"The team terminated Dennis' contract on September 13, 2019. This termination was not made public in order to allow Mr. Dennis to prepare undisputedly for the UCI 2019 Road World Championships Individual Time Trial Race," the statement reads.

"Mr. Dennis has notified the UCI Arbitration Commission. We have no further comment at this time."

Dennis was antagonized by his team when he abstained from the race on the eve of the individual time trial at the Tour de France. Abandoning the Tour midway through the race under such circumstances was a major negative press for the Bahrain-Merida team, and several equipment sponsors were disappointed by the Australian's decision.

Dennis was particularly unhappy with the clothing he was provided before the time trial.

Dennis spent the next 10 weeks virtually alone in training, but in an interview with a local Australian publication, he indicated that he would remain with the team for the second year of his contract in 2020.

Earlier this week, he retained his time trial world title, but on a blacked-out BMC bike rather than the trade team Merida. While that in itself was not against the rules, as riders are allowed to race on equipment provided by their national federations, Merida and Bahrain-Merida remained silent when Dennis retained his title.

Dennis has not raced for the team since finishing the Tour, and this week he revealed that he does not plan to race for the team again this season. On Sunday, he rode a BMC road bike in the men's road race at the World Championships.

In August, Dennis' agent attempted to transfer his rider to another team. Trek-Segafredo decided against taking the rider because the situation between Dennis and Bahrain-Merida had not yet been resolved. Later, when the financial offer from the CCC team was deemed too low, Dennis apparently had a period of time to consider a settlement with Bahrain-Merida.

News of the contract termination brought Dennis back to the market. The CCC team is one of the teams still hoping to sign Dennis. Team Ineos has also expressed interest in the Australian.