'Building a team behind my back' - Belgian ProTeam to fold following sponsor-manager tensions

Belgian ProTeam Wagner Bazin WB will cease to exist after the 2025 season, following a bitter falling out between the team's General Manager, Christophe Brandt and the owner of the team's title sponsor, Philippe Wagner.

The Walloon outfit, which has operated at the second and third-division level since 2011, will not apply for a licence for the 2026 season after Brandt discovered Wagner was allegedly creating a new team behind his back.

"I heard in June that Philippe Wagner was building a team behind my back. He even contacted some of our contract riders to join his new team," Brandt told La Dernière Heure.

The relationship between Brandt and Wagner deteriorated rapidly after the sponsor became dissatisfied with the team's performance. Wagner Bazin WB currently sits 33rd in the UCI ProTeam rankings, ahead of only Flanders-Baloise and Novo Nordisk, and is ranked 69th based on UCI points achieved in 2025

Brandt explained that Wagner's expectations didn't match the team's reality. "Although we had some good riders, who I'm convinced have the potential to become good professionals, it was difficult to achieve results right away. Some didn't give themselves all the resources they needed to perform."

The sponsor's disappointment led to tension over the racing calendar. "I think his ego was bruised. To win again, he wanted to force us to participate in smaller races. But we had already planned certain trips, we had already committed to certain events, which also offered visibility to our other partners."

Brandt believes Wagner had ulterior motives from the beginning. "I have the impression that Philippe Wagner wanted to capitalise on everything we had built up over ten years, our know-how, our staff, our network, and make it his own,” said Brandt.

“But then it would have been better to take over the team from me. That would have been clearer than pretending they were building a project."

The team began life as Wallonie-Bruxelles, with Brandt joining as team director in 2014. Over the years, it operated under various names, including Veranclassic Aqua Protect and Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB, before securing Wagner as a title sponsor for 2025 after a desperate search for funding.

Currently, French sprinter Pierre Barbier is the team's highest-ranked rider, inside the top 1,000 of the UCI World rankings, sitting in 970th place. His best result this season was fourth at the Ronde van Limburg.

Despite their struggles, the team secured invitations to prestigious races in 2025, including the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where Ceriel Desal, Johan Meens and Henri-François Renard-Hauqin featured in the breakaway.