Some of Belgium's biggest names, including CCC team riders Guillaume Van Kersburg, Stein Vandenberg (AG2R La Mondiale), and Julien Vermort (Cofidis), are looking for teams for the 2021 season.

NTT Pro Cycling is increasingly likely to close at the end of the year, and the CCC team's World Tour license has been bought by Circus Wantigobert.

On Wednesday, Het Laatste Nieuws newspaper put their lives in jeopardy, including high-profile riders such as NTT's Victor Kampenaerts and British sprinter Mark Cavendish (Bahrain McLaren), who have not yet signed contracts for 2021 Belgian riders featured.

Guillaume van Kersbulck of the CCC team, once touted as the "next Tom Boonen," admitted to a Belgian newspaper that he has been having sleepless nights recently.

"My goal was to keep racing until I was 35 or 36. But the teams are full and they are cutting budgets."

"Maybe I'll wait for the market price to come down. If necessary, I will wait until January, like Jan Bakelants did last year."

36-year-old Stein Vandenberg, who has spent the past four seasons with French WorldTour team AG2R La Mondiale, is said to no longer require his services.

"The interest that some teams were showing in me is gone," he explained to Het Laatste Nieuws. 'Nothing is working anymore and AG2R is full up.'

"There doesn't seem to be much of a budget anywhere. But the Corona crisis has made me realize how great this job is and how much I enjoy cycling."

"I'm not sure how much more I can do.

"Even if I only continue for half a season, I get to ride Paris-Roubaix (the race that suits me best) one more time in the spring of the Classics. That would be great. If it doesn't work out, I'm not going to sit in the corner and cry myself to sleep."

Cofidis' Julien Vermote agreed that the market seems to have quieted down: some riders have found a new home for next season at NTT and CCC, but many have not, and it is clear that there is an oversupply, said the 31-year-old Belgian rider.

"It's not ideal to be on the market in a year like this," said Vermote, who has served riders like Cavendish at both Quick Step and Dimension Data (now NTT) during his career. I still enjoy cycling, and I enjoy it more than ever." I'm confident that I can hold my own with any leader, be it a sprinter, a classic rider, or a climber."

"I'm going to keep thinking positive and hope for some good news,"

"I'm going to keep thinking positive and hope for some good news. It would be great to get on a good race program in 2021."

Vermote's Cofidis teammate Dimitri Claes is a Belgian rider still looking for a team for next year, despite his 6th place finish in this year's Tour de Flanders.

"It doesn't look good," he said. 'It makes it less likely that I will be a pro again next year.'

"Before the Classics in October, I already had a feeling it was going to be difficult. The team is prioritizing strengthening the team around (star climber) Guillaume Martin and looking for solutions to get better returns as sprinters Elia Viviani and Christophe Laporte continue to fall short of expectations."

"It's already November. I fear it's too late."

Het Laatste Nieuws also noted that Lot Soudal's Sander Armeh is probably in a slightly better position than some of his compatriots in that he remains hopeful that the team will still offer him a contract extension.

"Usually in July and August, you have more certainty and can start making a lot of plans," he said. But it is inevitable that COVID-19 will have an impact on the transfer market." We have to be patient and deal with this situation without setting a deadline."

"Lot Soudal has certainly not given me any negative signals," Arme continued. 'The message so far has been that I can still afford it, but I have to wait a while. I've been riding for them for seven years now, so they know my value. This year I won a stage at the Tour Poitou-Charentes and I also won a stage at the Vuelta a España (2017). But most of all, I still feel really good physically and I'm very motivated."