Deceuninck has agreed to co-sponsor Mathieu van der Pol's Alpecin Phoenix and the women's team Plantur-Pura for the next four years and will remain in the professional peloton in 2022. The Belgian window and door company had been the title sponsor of Patrick Lefebvre's Quick Step team since 2019, but that contract expires at the end of this year.

Alpecin Phoenix announced in a statement Tuesday night that Deceuninck will co-sponsor the men's professional team and "also sponsor the team's mountain bike, cyclocross, and women's elite cycling teams."

Deceuninck-QuickStep has already secured a budget for the next few years and confirmed that it will rebrand as QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl in 2022 after signing a new six-year sponsorship deal with QuickStep in the summer. Belgian media reported that Soudal will leave Lotto at the end of next season and become Lefevere's sponsor starting in 2023, although this has not been confirmed by both teams.

Francis Van Eeckhout, CEO of the Deceuninck Group, said the possibility of supporting a women's team played a role in his decision to sign Alpecin Phoenix after its three-year contract with QuickStep ended. Lefebvre drew criticism earlier this year when he appeared to deny that QuickStep would form a women's team in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws Sportscast.

"I am very happy about our partnership with the Alpecin Phoenix. Supporting young talent and strengthening women's cycling are two values that we both hold in very high regard. Personally, I am looking forward to the spring classics, especially the Tour de Flanders." We believe that our close collaboration with the Alpecin Phoenix team will make our brand stand out throughout the season."

For the second year in a row, the Alpecin Phoenix team has earned the highest pro team ranking and an automatic invitation to the 2022 World Tour race. The team won a total of 33 Grand Tour stage victories last season, including three by Van der Pol, Jasper Philipsen, and Tim Mellier. Van der Pol also won his fourth cyclocross world title and the Strade Bianche and held the yellow jersey for six days at the Tour de France. The Dutchman is under contract until the end of 2025 with a team led by Philippe and Christophe Roudoft.

The Plantur-Pura team, formerly the Mundial Ciclismo team, now includes former cyclo-cross world champions Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Sanne Cant, as well as current Superprestige Series overall 3rd and World Cup The team consists of some of the world's top cyclocross specialists who race on the road during the spring and summer months, including Annemarie Worst, currently ranked #3 overall in the Superprestige Series and #5 in the World Cup standings.

"We are delighted to be partnering with Deceuninck. We have experienced explosive growth in the last few years, but we are far from the end of this journey," said Philippe Rudhoft. [Together with our current partners, we welcome Deceuninck to confirm our current level, while at the same time further developing and materializing our future ambitions. As a Belgian multinational, they understand our ongoing pursuit of perfection and ambition. So I am confident that together we will achieve excellence in this sponsored match."[17