Tour de France: B&B Hotels-KTM to step up budget with Carrefour, Cavendish on wish list
French ProTeam to receive major budget increase for 2023.
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More visible at this year’s Tour de France thanks to its distinctive kit than its results, the French B&B Hotels-KTM team plans to step things up considerably next season. According to Dutch publication WielerFlits, the Pro Continental squad will have a considerable jump in budget from 2023, after the securing of a new title sponsor Carrefour.
The French department store is reportedly set to come on board the renamed Carrefour-B&B Hotels team and, according to WielerFlits, the out-of-contract Mark Cavendish (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) is on its wish list, along with the likes of Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Victorious), Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Alexis Vuillermoz (TotalEnergies).
It is not clear if these riders have been in discussion with the team about coming on board. The reported budget is between 15 and 20 million euros, which would rival that of several WorldTour teams.
Italian sprinter Luca Mozzato is their best-ranked rider, currently 91st in the UCI World Ranking. French rider Pierre Rolland is the team’s standout in terms of profile. He previously finished eighth and tenth overall in the Tour and was best young rider in 2011.
However he’s had a quiet past couple of seasons, even if he was second on a stage and won the mountains classification in the Critérium du Dauphiné. His current contract with the team ends this season.
WielerFlits says that there are 15 riders with contracts running into 2023, including breakaway specialists Franck Bonnamour and Alexis Gougeard, mountain biker Victor Koretzky and sprinter Jérémy Lecroq. It states that bike manufacturer KTM is understood not to be remaining with the setup.
Carrefour was a sponsor for many years at the Tour de France, backing the King of the Mountains competition.