According to a report in De Telegraaf, the future of the Belkin team is secured as the Dutch national lottery will provide the needed funding. Lotto will invest in a unique joint project with the BrandLoyalty speedskating team.

Since Belkin abruptly announced that they will use a clause in their contract to end their sponsorship of the eponymous cycling team, the future of the biggest Dutch cycling team has been in doubt. Now it seems that the Dutch national lottery has stepped in to secure its existence.

De Telegraaf reports that Lotto will invest in a unique joint project with the BrandLoyalty speedskating team. BrandLoyalty will also become a sponsor and hope to create a synergy between their two projects.

"We are going to combine the cycling and speedskating team in terms of logistics but also in terms of sports aspects," BrandLoyalty founder Robert van der Wallen said. "You can see it as two teams but with one look and feel."

"We are now working on the last details," Team Belkin manager Richard Plugge said. "We were already working on this plan before we knew Belkin would end their sponsorship but it became more concrete in June. When the contracts have been signed, and it looks very promising, this is great news for the team and for Dutch cycling."

The majority of the budget of the team comes from Lotto, but Plugge reportedly also saved around €2,5 million of the Rabobank money that he received a few years ago. Furthermore, Bianchi is set to provide additional money to the team.

The team still hasn't the full budget to compete at the WorldTour level but Roompot Vakanties is also still looking for a team in which to invest around one million euros and could close the gap. 

Lotto confirmed that negotiations are ongoing.

"Lotto, part of De Lotto, has recently taken the initiative to make a unique collaboration between the skating team BrandLoyalty and the Belkin Pro Cycling Team," makering director Arno De Jong said in a statement. "Discussions between all parties involved are ongoing. However, there is nothing definite. Lotto plans to be a sponsor in both skating and cycling but at present it is unclear in which form. It is too early to go into further details. If that changes, we will provide more information."