As announced by Het Laast Nieuws and confirmed by L’Equipe, Citroën will no longer be the co-sponsor of AG2R next season. This is why Decathlon could take over according to certain rumours.
A new cycling team should soon change its name. Indeed, after the recent transition from Trek-Segafredo to Lidl-Trek since the end of June, it is the association between AG2R and Citroën which seems to be at an end. Because, according to recent information from the Flemish daily Het Laast Nieuws, which has since been confirmed by L’Equipe, the brand of the French car manufacturer has a good chance of withdrawing at the end of this year.
Co-sponsor of AG2R La Mondiale for three years (the partnership began in 2021), Citroën will leave a void in cycling training, since it brought between six and seven million euros per year. According to the French sports daily, ” this information should be revealed in the coming days by officials of the insurance company, who have sponsored the team since 1998 (since 2000 as main sponsor). »
And now, place at Decathlon?
However, according to some persistent rumors lately, Citroën should be replaced by a French sponsor… which could well be Decathlon! If the information has not yet been verified, it would make sense because the Van Rysel brand, which belongs to the same group, should replace BMC as bicycle suppliers for this cycling team, which was previously equipped by Eddy Merckx Bikes ( from 2019 to 2020). But, for the time being, all this remains conditional and the next few days should make it possible to see more clearly for the training led by Vincent Lavenu.
In any case, when extending his contract, Benoit Cosnefroy had comments going in this direction, he who was coveted and had guarantees (in particular on the equipment of the team). ” There will soon be ambitious announcements that cannot be discussed at the moment, which have tipped the scales “, declared in particular the French runner, in remarks collected by L’Equipe. Was he talking about that? We should soon find out.
