Stölting Group has sacked Michael Skelde. The Dane was owner and later manager of the Cult Energy team which has merged with Stölting. Last week, Cult Energy turned their back to the project and now Skelde has been told that he has been fired by his new employer, according to a report by Danish TV2.

Skelde was set to be responsible for the sporting aspect of the new team. He was asked to travel to Germany for a meeting with all stakeholders in the squad. He expected to go there to seek a solution to the sponsor problems but instead he was told to leave the team.

"It came as a complete surprise," he told  TV2. "I no longer regarded it as my team, but it's something we've built up over many years so I have to be honest that it feels extra strange.”

This year Cult Energy was the major backer of the ProContinental team that was already in a difficult financial situation. They had to end their season early and have been unable to pay their riders fully. The solution seemed to have been found when the merger with the continental Stölting team was announced. Last week, however, it emerged that Cult stops the sponsorship immediately because Stölting reportedly had not made the required payments. The German company refuses the claims, is now the only big sponsor and is looking for a solution to keep the team going.

The team has seventeen riders under contract, including Gerald Ciolek, Linus Gerdemann and Fabian Wegmann.