Bizarre... Dutch cyclo-cross talent breaks with Belgian team, which responds furiously: "Really hope you fail"

Cabaca is one of the biggest Dutch talents in cyclo-cross: she finished seventh in the juniors at the last World Championships. Her talent is also evident on the road; she won Gent-Wevelgem and finished sixth in her age category at the Tour of Flanders. This past weekend, she placed tenth in the Dutch Heerderstrand cross race among the elite, making her the top favorite for juniors at the European Championships in Pontevedra next weekend.

In early 2023, Cabaca signed with Deschacht-Hens-FSP, Toon Aerts’ team, on a three-year contract. Suddenly, in September, she wanted to leave the team. For team manager Bart Verschueren, this came as a surprise, leading to a meeting between the two parties. Cabaca, together with her father, told the team manager that she no longer felt comfortable with the team. "They’ve pulled some stunts on us, and I can’t handle that," Claudio Cabaca, Mae’s father, told WielerFlits.

"It all started when Mae wanted to cycle a bit less. People forget that they’re just kids — sometimes they just don’t want to continue. Besides that, we felt the equipment provided was inadequate. It was simply terrible. Mae received the leftovers. For example, at the Cyclo-cross World Championships, she had to ride on tires that were three years old. That’s unacceptable. The final straw came this summer when she wasn’t allowed to join the team’s training camp. Everyone else could go except Mae. I just can’t tolerate this. We want nothing to do with them anymore."

Verschueren shared his side of the story with Het Nieuwsblad. He claims that Cabaca requested the contract termination via WhatsApp. "In a personal conversation, I asked her for the reason, and she couldn’t really provide one. I told her that we had done everything for her over the past year and didn’t want to throw that away lightly." The seventeen-year-old talent then completed her first cyclo-cross races of the season on a different bike and wearing black clothing, as she no longer wanted to represent the team.

"That’s when I contacted the Dutch cycling federation," Verschueren continued. According to Verschueren, Mae told the federation that her contract had been mutually terminated, which wasn’t true. The KNWU then informed Mae that she couldn’t unilaterally break a contract — that’s prohibited. For Deschacht-Hens-FSP, this was the final straw: Cabaca got her way, and her contract was terminated.

But the story doesn’t end there: after the young rider posted about the start of her cyclo-cross season on Instagram, and a furious Verschueren left a scathing comment. "How dare you post this, showing no respect for the equipment you received, neglected and did not maintain, and with zero respect for a signed contract. I really hope you fail in everything you pursue. In business, you would have been ruined long ago!" The manager has not yet responded to questions about his outburst, nor has he commented on potential legal steps.