The arrival of the Tour de France in Paris and the beginning of the Tour de France Femmes in the identical metropolis has coincided with a report from French newspaper L’Equipe that the French capital is about to develop into an essential new participant in biking by lending its identify to UCI Professional Workforce B&BHotels p/b KTM in 2023.
The undertaking is alleged to increase the present ProTeam to each a males’s and girls’s squad, in addition to an academy for younger riders, however a selected determine for a brand new price range has but to emerge.
In accordance with L’Equipethe information can be made official this Sunday night, after the lads’s Tour de France has ended on the Champs-Élysées.
Whereas the workforce’s preliminary goal is to develop into the highest two squads within the ProTeams rating, it’s mentioned to be trying to enhance its line-up. Mark Cavendish, out of contract with QuickStep-AlphaVinyl on the finish of the season, is reportedly on the groups’ radar as a possible signing for 2023.
Nonetheless, one other identify talked about within the newspaper report as probably sparking curiosity, Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco) has now re-signed along with his present workforce for an additional three years.
Different groups up to now with main western European cities forming half of a professional squad’s identify embrace Wallonie-Bruxelles, Delko-Marseille and Telekom, who have been initially named after the German metropolis Stuttgart.
Didier Quillot, chief govt of France’s Ligue de Soccer Professionel and one of many brains behind the undertaking, informed the newspaper that the backing of the workforce was as a consequence of Paris metropolis council’s want to spice up the picture of Paris because the world capital of biking and enhance bike use amongst its residents.
On the similar time, the approaching celebration of the Olympic Video games in 2024 in Paris, the inspiration for this new sponsorship was drawn from the creation of Workforce Sky in Britain in 2010 and the Video games which happened in London in 2012.
Quillot was at pains to level out that whereas Paris will lend its identify and picture to the expanded undertaking, reportedly to be dubbed Paris Biking Undertaking, and the workforce can have its HQ within the metropolis, no monetary backing from town and no public cash can be supplied in any respect.
A non-public sponsor, who may also seem on the workforce jersey, is anticipated to make up the shortfall.