The future of the Belkin team was thrown into uncertainty when the sponsor suddenly announced its intention to stop at the end of the season. The riders have now given the team management until August 1 to find a replacement before they will start their search for a new home.

Both the Belkin management and the majority of the riders will try to keep the team together until May 1, manager Richard Plugge has told Algemeen Dagblad. Althoufh several riders already have been in talks with other teams, they have agreed to wait a month, hoping that possible replacement for Belkin will be found.

"Most of the team stands together in an attempt to save the team," Plugge said. "Many riders have given us time to find sponsor. We have until August 1 before they start to make sure that they can support themselves in the future."

The paper reports that the Belkin management didn't inform the riders about a clause in the sponsorship contract that allowed Belkin to cancel their commitments at the end of the season. However, Plugge refuses to be drawn into any kind of speculation about the riders' reaction to the behaviour of the management.

"If we can't find a sponsor, we are going to gently release our riders," he said. "What I mean? I will dicuss that with the guys, not with the media."

When the announcement came out, the team quickly set up a plan of crowdfunding which was not appreciated by everyone.

"It was a bit hasty but we wanted to prevent that somebody else did, like with Rabobank. Now 2000 people have offered money and we have the same number of paying fan club members. For potential sponsors, this gives a good idea about our grassroots."

As the team has 1.5 million Euros in reserve from smaller sponsors, the team could continue in 2015 at Pro Continental level. With both Giro and the Tour starting in the Netherlands, wildcards for those races would be almost guaranteed but the management still hopes to find a main sponsor that will allow the team to continue at the highest level.