Amid the struggle for sponsorship among lower-budget teams in cycling, one team boss has said the situation "is not a game, it is a fight," with the clock ticking on finding more funding for 2026 and beyond.
Arkéa-B&B Hotels confirmed on Wednesday that their two title sponsors would not be renewing for next season, putting them in the most dire position, but the likes of Alpecin-Deceuninck and Belgian team Lotto are also in the hunt for a new title sponsor.
While set to be promoted back into the WorldTour thanks to their success throughout the three-year cycle, Lotto have struggled throughout 2025. Not only has headline rider Arnaud De Lie faced several setbacks, but they also still have a co-title sponsor funding black hole to replace.
CEO Stéphane Heulot gave detailed insight into their sponsorship woes, speaking to WielerFlits, after Lotto unveiled a new jersey for the Tour de France, with longstanding sponsor CAPS temporarily filling the second title spot. While not permanent, the fuel and charging card company making an "extra effort" has been a win-win situation for Lotto's Tour.
"There are a number of very nice names on the table, but nothing has been finalized at the moment. I am very busy with sponsors, but it is clear that there are increasing costs in the peloton because of inflation," Heulot told WielerFlits.
"You also see what's going on in the world right now, right? A lot of companies are affected by that. Sports sponsorship is therefore not the top priority for many of those companies."
"It is very difficult to fight with the biggest teams, but even with the budget that we have or are aiming for, we can still do nice things. Ideally, we want to end up with the average budget of a WorldTeam, but that is not easy. Today we are not even halfway there.
"I am optimistic. Ultimately, the most important thing at the moment is that we continue to do well in the WorldTour ranking. We will almost certainly be promoted to the WorldTour and as far as the sponsor is concerned, I remain positive."
Despite Lotto's commitment to finding Belgian support, the struggle is forcing them to "look everywhere", especially with the competition among Belgian WorldTour and ProSeries teams to secure new sponsors.
"Those teams are all in the same situation. Alpecin-Deceuninck, Soudal Quick-Step and Intermarché-Wanty are also looking for partners," said Lotto's CEO.
"There are also examples of situations in which we are talking to a sponsor, but suddenly other teams appear and steal the sponsor if we let the talks drag on for too long. It is not a game, it is a fight."
While the sponsorship picture may be experiencing a race to the bottom, Heulot's undying positivity around his own team's future extended to the wider picture in cycling, confident that things will get better.
"I can hardly imagine that it will get worse. To have a good sport, it is important that there is sufficient equity. That gives teams power," he told the Dutch publication.
"For example, we see a team like UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who have five riders in their selection for the grand tours who can win. I don't think that such a situation is interesting for the spectators to see. Then there is no battle.
"But when I look at our own team, it's important to stay true to our values and our DNA. And that's clearly our focus on young riders. We don't aim to buy a rider who is in the top five in the world, but we can develop a future top five rider.
"This year was not a good example, but in 2023 and 2024 we have proven that with that strategy we can be amongst the top 10 teams in the world."
Lotto should survive well into the next WorldTour cycle and beyond, but they will want to entice a new title sponsor sooner rather than later, to replace the void left in their budget by the departure of Dstny. A strong performance at the Tour de France from De Lie and Lennert Van Eetvelt could well be the key to their long-term survival.
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