Emanuele Galbusera was involuntary prophet. «The historic battle – he said in the interview of mid-October – has always been to capitalize and make sports clubs responsible, so that they have more certainty and do not depend only on sponsors».
The goal was not achieved, at least not by everyone. So within a few months, professional cycling has seen two teams vanish which, in relation to their size, have made its recent history. Drone hopper by Savio and Bellini and lastly the B&B Hotels by Jerome Pineau, who last week suddenly spoke to his riders to tell them that they were free to find another team for next season.
Broken promises
On one side the sponsor of the drones: a startup that bit off more than it could chew and which, as far as we understand, may have paid (at least for as long as it did) with European funds received for business development. Savio and RCS Sport were involved., who, according to Drone Hopper, wanted to appeal for projects related to the Giro.
On the French side, however, what would have failed would have been a big sponsor worth 15 million a yearThe most informed have spoken of the LVMH Group for men and of Sephora for women, which had enticed the former French professional. Pineau had put an important project on the table, which also included the birth of a women's team and the hiring of Mark Cavendish as a lighthouse, with Maximilian Richeze at his side. But in the end, nothing comes of it.
The old road
The French press is investigating further, waiting for Pineau to decide to tell his version: which he won't do until he's submitted the complete dossier to the UCI. Certainly not what he expected to produce.
Pineau would have been attracted by his relationship with Didier Quillot, former executive general manager of the Professional Football League and head of the Mediapro group's television rights contract. There's no doubt that such an introduction opened many doors, but they didn't yield the desired results. Pineau's mistake, caught up in so much emphasis, was also to abandon the old path for the new. He had in fact cut ties with the Brittany Region, which had financially supported his cycling adventure since the beginning, and found himself with water up to his neck.
What does B&B do?
Although the difficulties have suddenly become evident, the riders continued to stay close to their team manager. Pierre Rolland and Mozzato himself, despite having several requests, continued to have faith, until it was clear that they would have done better to find a place for themselves.
There were around twenty riders under contract, plus all the staff, at the time of the season when the budgets were all allocated. Pineau is now reportedly trying to create a continental, as done by Savio, to return to the big leagues from 2024. But at this point the risk is that the sponsor himself B&B Hotels, who had seemed so interested in the women's team, may decide not to continue, given that certainly as a continental the doors of the Tour will be closed.
The fate of Mozzato
Those who have managed to settle down are very few. Koretzky has signed with Bora-HansgroheBonnamour, the revelation of the 2021 Tour who curiously doesn't have an agent, is reportedly close to signing. Laurance, second in Plouay, could join Soudal-Quick Step, while Rolland would be close to his lifelong mentor, Bernaudeau and its sponsor Total Energies.
Luca Mozzato is also in the mix, and he's training while his manager is working to resolve the situation. Transfer rumors, still confusing for now, have been talking about interest from Trek-Segafredo and Arkea-Samsic, which with the arrival of the Bianchi bikes might like the presence of the third best Italian of 2022But even for Mozzato, the ending of the story is still yet to be written.
