Bianchi set to return to men’s WorldTour peloton with Arkéa-Samsic
Italian brand partners with French squad's men's and women's teams.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Bianchi will return to the men’s WorldTour after Arkéa-Samsic confirmed Thursday it would be swapping its Canyon bikes for the Italian brand next season.
The French squad is set to move up to the WorldTour for next season for the first time after finishing the season inside the top 18 of the UCI’s ranking. The Arkéa women’s team, which races at the Continental level, will also be on Bianchi from 2023.
VeloNews broke the news in August that the team was looking for a new bike sponsor with two sources connecting the squad to Bianchi.
Also read: Bianchi prepares for possible WorldTour return with confusion over Arkéa Samsic’s 2023 bikes
A team spokesman denied it would be changing bike sponsor for 2023, while Canyon said that nothing had been confirmed “either way” at that stage. However, the team today unveiled images of its new Bianchi bikes for next season on social media.
View this post on Instagram
Bianchi has a long history in professional cycling with the likes of Fausto Coppi and Marco Pantani riding its bikes in the past. More recently the company supplied Jumbo-Visma between 2014 and 2020 and BikeExchange-Jayco in 2021.
Ever since BikeExchange-Jayco switched to Giant at the start of 2022, Bianchi has been missing from the men’s and women’s pelotons.