The future of the French B&B Hotels ProTeam will be decided by the end of the month, with Jérôme Pineau recognising his team is in “great danger” but clinging to hope he can pull some sponsors out of the hat at the last minute.
Back in July, Pineau set out ambitious plans for the second-division French team he created in 2018, with the city of Paris and other major sponsors expected to expand the ‘project’ that would also create a women’s team and a development squad.
However, despite appearing to strike agreements with a number of riders, chief among them Mark Cavendish, with the idea of the Manxman targeting the Tour de France stage win record in 2023, nothing has materialised.
The initial deadline for registering teams for the new season came and went in mid-October, before a planned team presentation in Paris was scrapped with a day’s notice. Now Pineau has had to ask for special dispensation from the UCI and the DNCG (the teams regulatory body in France) for an extended final cut-off point of November 30.
“If we’re still waiting for a response on November 15, we can say our future is under threat,” Pineau admitted to French newspaper L’Equipe (opens in new tab) in a rare interview.
“We’re behind schedule but I’m going to keep believing until the final minute of the final day. It could be the start of something else or the end of everything.”
Pineau remained tight-lipped as the uncertainty intensified through the autumn, but has now set out in more detail the precarious situation his team finds itself in.
Although the deal with B&B Hotels remains in place, and there is still apparently “close collaboration” with the City of Paris, it emerged in the summer that Paris would only be lending its name and not any money. More crucially, links with major companies such as Amazon and Carrefour have yet to come to fruition.
Blaming “social and ecumenic instability”, Pineau confirmed that he has no new money in place, and faces a mad scramble over the next 10 days.
“Right now, we’re still waiting. We’ve contacted the relevant authorities, French and international, to inform them of our need to have another 15 days to present a solid dossier. We have until November 30 to present a complete, official dossier with the corresponding budget,” he said.
“We’ve set up meetings with a view to a final decision with five companies who are following our project. We’re awaiting concrete responses on November 21, 27, and 28. These are very serious leads with which…
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