The team currently known as TotalEnergies will continue next year, after French IT company XEFI was brought onboard as title sponsor.
The future of the French ProTeam set up by former pro rider Jean-René Bernaudeau in 2000, which has been in serious doubt for months, has been secured with the inking of the new deal, believed to be a three-year agreement.
The Vendée-based team has been in limbo since well before the Tour de France, when its principle backer TotalEnergies made it clear they would be concluding the relationship at the end of the season, to become name-jersey sponsors for rival WorldTour team Netcompany-Ineos, and to further cement its partnership with the Tour race organisers ASO.
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During the period of uncertainty that prevailed while the team was effectively without a name-sponsor, which coincided with the transfer season, the squad haemorrhaged a whole host of riders, including Anthony Turgis (who has joined XDS Astana), Jordan Jegat (who has gone to Lidl-Trek), Pierre Thierry (pictured, who has jumped ship to Cofidis), Alexandre Delettre (who will now ride for Groupama-FDJ) and Nicolas Breuillard (who will line up with Turgis at XDS Astana).
The new deal, means that the team would be able to line up at the start of the 2027 Tour de France if invited, but as things currently stand, they only have one rider remaining under contract.
Nevertheless, team boss Bernaudeau is breathing a sigh of relief this week. “I am particularly pleased to see XEFI partnering with Vendée Cyclisme, a company with which we share much more than an ambition: a true vision of the human and the future,” he told the media.
Stéphane Heulot remains the team manager, and Bernaudeau has also brought fellow former French pro Tony Gallopin in as the new sport director. A Tour stage winner, who pulled on the yellow jersey in 2014 and has previously worked with Heulot at Lotto, Gallopin will join in January, having accompanied TotalEnergies during this year’s Tour de France.
“The fact that Jean-René and Stéphane can now plan years ahead again after a season finale that was disrupted by circumstances is a great reward for their work,” he said.
“I’m joining a historic French cycling team with a strong identity and a rich history, and I’m eager to contribute to it.”
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