There are growing concerns about the future of the B&B Hotels team and with it Mark Cavendish’s expected move to the French ProTeam team for 2023.
Team manager Jérôme Pineau had been due to reveal the 2023 roster for the men's and women's teams, together with new title sponsors on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's Tour de France route presentation in Paris. However the team suddenly cancelled the event on Tuesday evening, stating in a social media post the decision was made "due to the absence of some of the main stakeholders in the 2023 team's project".
Now French newspaper L'Équipe has revealed further details on the team’s possible future and their struggles to secure a title sponsor to cover the cost of a major increase in the team’s budget.
Last week the team was not included in the UCI announcement of the applicants for 2023 WorldTeam and ProTeam licences. B&B Hotels still has time to complete its registration but faces fines for every delay and further scrutiny from the UCI accountants.
One rider agent described the concerns about the future of the B&B Hotels team as "very worrying."
The team claimed that the delay in registration was due “the change in legal structure inherent in the evolution of the team for the years to come.”
In August Pineau said the chances of signing Cavendish for 2023 were "50-50" but seemed confident of building his team around the Manxman as he targeted the record number of stage wins at the Tour de France.
Cavendish has still to confirm his team for 2023 but has been widely linked to B&B Hotels. A number of other riders are set to join the team including Cees Bol, Nick Schultz, Ramon Sinkeldam and veteran leadout man Maximiliano Richeze. Pierre Rolland, Luca Mozzato, Julien Morice, Thibault Ferasse, Cyril Lemoine, Maxime Chevalier and Cyril Gauthier have all extended their contracts with the team according to L’Équipe.
Pineau spoke with enthusiasm about his plans for 2023 during the Tour de France but has since kept a low profile, as he worked to build the team. October 15 was a key deadline for team registration with the UCI, with riders free to terminate any contracts if a team fails to supply vital information and a bank guarantee by then.
That means that Cavendish and the other riders could join a different team for 2023. The clock is ticking and Pineau faces a race against time to secure the future of his team for 2023.
“Since the day of the arrival of the Tour on the Champs-Élysées and the announcement of the association of the City of Paris with his professional team from 2023, there has hardly been any signs of life from Jérôme Pineau,” L’Équipe suggested.
According to L’Équipe none of several touted sponsors have signed contracts. The city of Paris is involved but mayor Anne Hidalgo confirmed in July that public money would not be used to find the team.
The team’s new management company is apparently called Paris Cycling Club, with the idea of ties with the French capital used to attract major corporate sponsors.
The team’s new management structure apparently includes Didier Quillot, a former executive director of the Ligue professionnelle de football with experience in television rights deals, Thomas Le Drian, the son of a former French Defence Minister and Guillaume de La Hosseraye of the kilometre Zero Paris bike shop and cycling club.
L’Équipe claims the team is hoping to have a budget of 15 million Euro. B&B Hotels has extended their sponsorship and committed five million Euro but L’Equipe suggest that “nothing seems signed yet” regarding other backers. BMC is said to be the team’s new bike supplier, taking over from KTM.
Amazon France, Carrefour or Cdiscount have all been rumoured as possible sponsors but L’Equipe suggest that natural gas and green energy supplier Engie is now the most likely possible sponsor, with rumours that electricity distribution network Enedis is an alternative.
According to L’Équipe, Cavendish and other new riders were in Paris two weeks ago to agree a ‘memorandum of understanding’ but since then the team has failed to complete its application for a 2023 licence and cancelled Wednesday’s press conference.
Cavendish was expected to attend the Tour de France presentation in Paris on Thursday morning and then travel to Singapore and Japan for the Tour de France criteriums on October 30 and November 6.
On November 15 the UCI completes the assessment of ProTeam applicants with only a last-minute appeal process able to save a team.
