After the surprising withdrawal of the Danish partner, the future of the German-Danish Cult Energy-Stölting project was under threat. However, due to the significantly enhanced financial commitment of the Stölting Service Group, Linus Gerdemann’s, Gerald Ciolek’s, Fabian Wegmann’s and Lennard Kämna’s pro continental team has been saved.

"It is really a huge weight off our shoulders," sports director Jochen Hahn told radsport-news.com. Following a meeting last Sunday, he got the feeling that there was "a serious chance" that they would be able to keep the team on its feet. On Tuesday evening, he got the decisive call from Stölting CEO Hans Mosbacher who agreed to a significant increase in the financial commitment.

"I am especially happy for the staff and the riders because the boys had not done anything wrong and had one leg on the road," said Hahn who confirmed that all 17 riders will be retained by the team.

However, there will be a change in the group os sports directors. Dane Michael Skelde, sports director and former owner of Cult Energy, will no longer be part of the team management which will consist of Hahn, Skelde’ss compatriot André Steensen and Gregor Willwohl.

Furthermore, the team will have a German license in 2016 while the original plan was to ride under the Danish flag. Radsport-news.com reports that the Stölting company already had the license and so there were no major administrative issues. "Whether this leads to any changes for us, remains to be seen. Maybe it will help us in the future search for sponsors," said Hahn.

The German does not believe that the recent events will have an impact on their ability to get important race invitations. “Not much is happening in a single week. Furthermore, we have received a lot of encouragement from everybody, including the race organizers," said Hahn who now wants to look forward:" The start was a disaster but it just makes the hope for a successful season even greater.”