September will mark the end of a tenth and final season for the Ceratizit Pro Cycling team, which has been on the Women's WorldTour level since 2024.
The team issued a statement on Tuesday saying that new sponsorship had not been established so the team was unable to go on. All current WorldTour licences needed to be renewed at the end of 2025, with the UCI then approving participation at the top level for the three-year term of 2026-2028.
"The current economic climate has significantly impacted the ability to maintain a WorldTour team. Despite our best efforts to secure new sponsorship, escalating costs and current conditions have made it impossible to continue. It is with deep regret that we confirm the end of CERATIZIT Pro Cycling after this season," wrote Claude Sun, team manager, in a brief announcement.
"Our heartfelt thanks go to the Ceratizit Group, Orbea and all of our sponsors for a decade of unwavering support, and to all of our riders, staff, and fans for their dedication and passion over the years."
Established as Team WNT in 2016, the squad continued with support by the Ceratizit Group through this year, having moved to the top tier last year as Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling and then Ceratizit Pro Cycling for 2025. Through those years the team scored 65 road victories, including 13 at WorldTour events, including Daniek Hengeveld winning stage 1 at Santos Tour Down Under this year and last year Cédrine Kerbaol winning stage 6 at the Tour de France Femmes.
Earlier this year Ceratizit Group announced they would end sponsorship at the end of the 2025 season. Sun said in a statement at that time that the team was exploring new sponsorship partners, but today's statement confirms not enough additional support was found.
The team said it would "cease operations at the end of the current season", not at the end of the calendar year. The final competition for Ceratizit Pro Cycling will be in the United States on September 6 at the Maryland Cycling Classic in Baltimore.
Organisers of the Maryland Cycling Classic confirmed the early rosters for the inaugural women's UCI race this week, with Ceratizit one of two WorldTour teams at the event. The team's final lineup will include Franziska Brausse, Kristýna Burlová, Mylene De Zoete, Elena Hartmann, Marta Jaskulask and Hengeveld.
Hartmann recently won the Tour El Salvador, while three riders won national titles - Burlová in the Czechia road race, Petra Zsankó the Hungarian time trial and Fariba Hashimi dual road wins for Afghanistan in the ITT and road race. In addition to road racing success over the past decade, the team has had riders earn 16 track world titles and four Olympic Games medals.
