 Gysin ring splitting for an odd-dimensional sphere bundle

Let $E$ be an oriented real vector bundle of positive even rank $r$, with zero Euler class, and suppose the integral cohomology of $B$ is torsion-free. The Gysin sequence gives $0\to H^j(B)\to H^j(S(E))\to H^{j-r+1}(B)\to 0$. Choose an odd-degree class $a\in H^{r-1}(S(E))$ with ${\pi }_{!}a=1$. The projection formula for sphere bundle integration identifies the cohomology additively with ${\pi }^{\ast }{H}^{\ast }(B)\oplus {\pi }^{\ast }{H}^{\ast }(B)a$. It is torsion-free, so graded commutativity of the cup product gives $a^2=0$ from $2a^2=0$. These facts establish the displayed ring isomorphism, not just a decomposition of groups.