B&B Hotels team in total collapse

The B&B Hotels team has collapsed, leaving riders and staff without jobs for 2023. 

Expected new team leader Mark Cavendish, other riders signed for the new season, and 20 riders under contract will now have to scramble to find new teams or face retirement.  

Team manager Jérôme Pineau finally admitted he will be unable to run a team due to a lack of sponsorship on Wednesday morning during a two-hour conference call.   

"We did our best to save our club but unfortunately we didn't succeed," he wrote in a message sent to the team’s Whatsapp group late on Tuesday night, announcing the final video call.  

It also emerged overnight that the planned women’s team will not happen, leaving Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Australian sprinter Chloe Hosking and Olympic champion Anna Kiesenhofer without a team for 2023. 

This summer, Pineau set out grand plans for the team he created in 2018, with the City of Paris expected to back a project that not only expanded the second-division men's team but also created a women's team and a development squad. 

However, the Paris agreement was soon watered down and ruled out altogether, while discussions with various corporate companies turned up fruitless as Pineau desperately scrambled for sponsors up until the end of November. 

He had hoped to keep the men's team going at Continental level, but that status would rule out a wildcard invitation to the Tour de France and so sponsors were apparently no longer interested. The French Federation was also unlikely to grant the team a licence for 2023, leaving Pineau with nowhere to go.

Cyclingnews learned that Pineau confirmed the news of the demise of the team during a conference call early on Wednesday morning, having messaged the riders the previous night. 

"We tell you that Seb and I did our best to save our club but unfortunately we didn't succeed," Pineau wrote on Tuesday , referring to his brother Sebastien, who is also involved in the team management.   

"We are not giving up just like that, but there will be no miracles. We are currently desperately seeking to save what is salvageable and to find fallback solutions for each of you."

The riders suddenly on the market

The collapse of the men's team leaves 20 riders without employment for next year. The majority of the 2022 roster had contracts running through 2023 but the rug has suddenly been pulled from under their feet. 

Added to that are five riders who'd agreed to join from other teams: Mark Cavendish, Max Richeze, Nick Schultz, Cees Bol, and Stephen Williams. There are also the riders who agreed to join the women's team, a roster for which was never revealed but included Ragot, Hosking and Kiesenhofer.

The biggest names should still be able to find teams, but there'll be a great deal of anxiety among the others, with the second week of December far from an ideal time to be entering a transfer market that has already wound down. 

Victor Koretzky has already found a new home at Bora-Hansgrohe, while Ramon Sinkeldam - a prospective new signing - has already signed with Alpecin-Deceuninck. But the riders with deals for 2023 will have been remaining patient, waiting and trusting Pineau would come up with the funds to continue the team and honour those contracts. 

Now, all WorldTour and ProTeams have had their budgets signed off for 2023, and the majority have already reached the UCI maximum limit of riders on their rosters. The few that haven't will sense an opportunity to pick up a final rider at a bargain price, with the B&B riders hardly in a position to barter for the best terms, instead scrambling simply to save their careers. 

Pierre Rolland is the highest-profile rider on the team, the two-time Tour de France stage winner having joined in 2019 in the team's second year. The Frenchman recently turned 36 but added a year to his contract in the summer. 

Reports in the French media have linked Rolland with a return to the TotalEnergies team, where he rode from 2009 and 2015 and enjoyed his best years, finishing top 10 at the Tour and Giro d'Italia. However, Rolland bristled on social media on Wednesday, writing: "Surprised to learn of my future in the press. I'll keep you informed about what my future will be in good time on social media."

There's no shortage of suitors for 21-year-old Frenchman Axel Laurance, who had an outstanding debut season as a professional and has attracted interest from Soudal-QuickStep, Ineos Grenadiers, and AG2R Citroën. 

Similarly Luca Mozzato and Franck Bonnamour appear to be in strong positions. Mozzato, the highly-rated young Italian sprinter, was linked with Trek-Segafredo but could be bound for Arkéa-Samsic, while Bonnamour, winner of the Polynormande, has also been the subject of interest from other French teams. 

13 of the 20 riders are French, with three Belgians in Jens Debuscherre, Jordi Wallop, and Eliot Lietar, plus Mozzato and Canadian Raphael Parisella, German Miguel Heidemann, and Austrian Sebastian Schonberger. 

Of the prospective signings, Cavendish is clearly the highest-profile but isn't the simplest signing given salary expectations and the need for a lead-out. 

Max Richeze had been drafted in to B&B for that role but could now retire having come close to doing so last year. Bol, Schultz, and Williams will all hope they can still take the final spots among the WorldTour teams. 

As for the women's squad, Ragot had spoken with great enthusiasm about joining a new team for what would be the final two years of her career, through to the 2024 Olympics in her native France. However, as she makes her comeback from a stroke in the summer, she'll need to find a last-minute option for next year. 

Hosking, like Cordon Ragot, spent this year at Trek-Segafredo and had agreed to join B&B Hotels. The Australian sprinter has already taken to social media to begin her scrap for a team, with Trek-Segafredo having already replaced the duo and filled their roster.

"I am one of the riders impacted by the saga that is the collapse of the B&B Hotels team," Hosking wrote. "To say I am caught up the creek without a paddle is an understatement. Looking for opportunities for 2023."

Kiesenhofer, the Olympic champion, had been linked with a move that would have represented a return to full-time cycling after several years in which her full-time career has been in academia. The Austrian clearly has that career to fall back on but it remains to be seen how eager she is and was to get back to racing full-time.