Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert has announced that Italian wine company Vini Zabou will join as a sponsorship partner beginning in 2022.

The deal will end the partnership with the Italian professional team led by Angelo Citracca and Luca Sinto.

Vini Zabou's move to the Belgian WorldTour team has been rumored for several weeks, and now the Farnese Vini Group will have two sponsorship deals on the WorldTour and the Vini Fantini brand will be in the Israel will adorn the Startup Nation's kit.

Team CEO Jean-François Boulart welcomed the partnership, noting that the team's two big wins in recent years had Italian ties.

"We are delighted with our partnership with the great Italian group Vini Fantini and in particular with its subsidiary Vini Zabu.

"We have had a long love affair with Italy. Not only because we have had many Italian riders on our team, but also because of two important moments in our team's history." The victory in the 2016 Amstel Gold Race thanks to Italian rider Enrico Gasparotto, and the stunning success of Taco van der Hoorn in our first Giro d'Italia.

Previous reports suggested that the winery is unable or unwilling to fully fund the team next season, preferring instead to take on smaller, non-famous sponsorship deals.

"After 13 years of having a presence in Italian teams with the Farnese Vini group, we are delighted to start this unprecedented partnership with Intermarche-Wanti-Gobert," said Vini Fantini's said Giulia Sciotti, Marketing Manager of Vini Fantini. This team is always present on breakaways and distinguishes itself by its combativeness."

"Today, the team is recognized for its achievements in the most prestigious cycling events. Like our group, it is an organization that stands for a clean and honest sport, driven by passion and love for its work. The presence of the Vini Zabù logo on our team kits is a guarantee of Vini Zabù's visibility, not only on the sporting side, but also on the commercial side. Belgium is one of our main export partners and a great opportunity for our group to strengthen our market position."

Intermarche Wanty-Gobert stepped up to the World Tour for the first time in 2021 after purchasing the CCC team license, which folded in late 2020.

This season, Van der Hoorn's first Grand Tour stage win at the Giro, a stage win at the Vuelta a España by Line Taaramae, and a nine-day leader's jersey win by Estonian and maverick Christian Eyking, were some big victories.

The team's new sponsorship deal appears to end its longstanding relationship with the pro team, which now calls itself Vini Zabou. The company had also previously sponsored the now defunct pro team Nippo - Vini Fantini from 2014 to 2019, and had sponsored ISN for the past two seasons.

The future of the current Vini Zabou team is unknown, but it has been in operation since 2009 and has participated in all but three Giro d'Italia events since then.

Despite reports in the Italian media that the team will miss the 2022 deadline to apply for a professional team license and will be relegated to Continental or U23 next season, Simone Bevilacquet (transferred to Eolo Cometa) and Andrea Bartolozzi (Beltrami TSA transfer) were the only two players who agreed to sign elsewhere.