The Decathlon CMA CGM team has registered for business in Switzerland, switching its paying agent from France in a move that’s understood to be linked to their fight to keep hold of their prized rider, Paul Seixas, in the long-term.
The possibility of such a switch, which would save considerable sums of money in taxes, was first raised in the spring, but denied by the team management at the time. It has now come to fruition.
A new entity has been listed at the Register of Commerce in Geneva, named 'DECATHLON CYCLING TEAM SUISSE SA'. Registered on August 17, it carries the names of the team’s two senior management figures, Dominique Serieys and Mathieu Charpentier, and concerns ‘the management and activity of a professional cycling team’.
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A spokesperson for the team has confirmed to Cyclingnews that this will be the new company that operates the cycling team from 2027.
In addition to the men’s WorldTour squad, this entity will also govern the team’s development squads and a new women’s team that’s launching in 2027.
The team insist they are still a French outfit, and they will continue to be a French-registered team when it comes to their WorldTour license with the UCI. In addition, their headquarters will remain where they are in La Motte-Servolex, near the French Alps.
What’s changing is the legal and administrative base of the company that runs the team, often referred to in cycling as the ‘paying agent’. All contracts, therefore, will be arranged according to Swiss law.
The team have declined to comment on the reasons for this change.
It is one that will come with a considerable financial benefit.
It will, for starters, mean the team will not pay the higher level of social security contributions that are associated with French contracts. Marc Madiot, president of the French team Groupama-FDJ, has previously highlighted this uneven playing field, suggesting a rule whereby all teams must have their base in Switzerland, where the UCI operates.
Where Seixas comes into this is that Decathlon CMA CGM will effectively be able to offer him a higher salary, as a lesser percentage of it would be going to the taxman. There has been intense speculation over Seixas’ future this spring as he has stormed to very top echelon of the sport with a string of astounding performances at just 19 years of age.
As Tadej Pogačar dominates the sport, teams are queuing up for the next best thing and Decathlon have been facing a fight to keep him beyond his current contract, which expires at the end of 2027. Having already been aggressive in the transfer market this summer, this move will in theory allow them to be more competitive when it comes to offering him a new package.
But it’s not just down to Seixas. The team has been growing in stature since the Decathlon came on board as a sponsor in 2022, and then took over full ownership of the team from AG2R La Mondiale at the start of this year.
The injection of investment from the international sports retailing giant has already seen them referred to among the ‘super-team’ bracket of cycling’s WorldTour, and the move to Switzerland will only hone their financial muscle.
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