Mitchelton-Scott gave notice at the Giro d'Italia to the other members of the group that they will no longer invest in the company and have started proceedings to sell their ownership stake in the group.
Mitchelton-Scott were one of the founding members of the group of men's WorldTour teams that looked to find new revenue streams for squads rather than just relying upon sponsorship for generating income.
This included the production of rider data, video content and race participation fees, as well the running of the Hammer Series, a race that has suffered cancellations and subdued interest in comparison with more established events.
Velon includes 10 of the leading WorldTour teams: Team Ineos, Team Sunweb, Team Jumbo-Visma, Bora-Hansgrohe, Trek-Segafredo , Deceuninck–QuickStep, EF Education First, CCC Team, Lotto Soudal and UAE Team Emirates.
Brent Copeland, general manager of Mitchelton-Scott spoke of the change in an interview with Cyclingnews.
"Since the change of management this year we have reviewed all of our contracts," said Copeland. "Being shareholders of Velon is one of our contracts and a decision was made to step down as shareholders. However as a team we are more than happy to support various projects which Velon invest in."
What exactly that support will look like is unknown, with no updates on the Hammer Series website since April 3 and no clarification on whether the team will continue to contribute rider data or video content to Velon.
