Mark Cavendish has been hotly tipped for months to be a B&B Hotels-KTM rider next year but now the French ProContinental squad has set out a worrying picture about its future. It has confirmed it does not have the sponsors in place at present to press ahead with its ambitions for next year.
Indeed, unless a number of leads it is now chasing result in confirmed sponsors in the next fortnight, the team has said that would, not only spell the end of its expansion plans, but may also mean the team will not survive in any guise into 2023. The update from inside the team throws Cavendish's future into doubt.
Cavendish is out of contract at present as he was not re-signed by QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl after spending the past two seasons with the Belgian outfit. The British rider has been tightlipped about his plans for next year but was widely expected to sign for B&B Hotels-KTM. It was also reported lead-out man Maximiliano Richeze, who rode for UAE Team Emirates this year, had been signed to guide Cavendish in the sprints.
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However, as reports have emerged detailing other new signings and new sponsors - including Amazon and Carrefour - bringing a significantly beefed up budget, the team has missed UCI team registration deadlines. It also cancelled, at the last minute, a scheduled press conference last month, when its new backers and signings were expected to be unveiled.
Team principal Jérôme Pineau has now confirmed he was forced to ask the UCI for an extension until the end of this month, saying if five potential sponsors he was in talks with did not work out, his team was in "great danger".
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"If we're still waiting for a response on November 15th, that shows our future is under threat," Pineau told French newspaper L'Equipe. "We're behind schedule but I'm going to keep believing until the final minute of the final day. It could be the start of something else or the end of everything.
"We have set up meetings with a view to a final decision with five companies who are following our project. We're waiting firm resplies on November 21st, 27th, and 28th. They're very serious leads. We hope for positive responses so we can put in place what we set out in July," he said in reference to the team outlining an expanded project, with a men's and women's team.
"If the five leads come to nothing, we are then in great danger and the team might not survive," he stated, adding while B&B Hotels were confirmed as backers again next year, their support would not be enough on its own to even continue as a ProContinental team.
"The budget from the partners already on board would not be enough to progress at the level we hope. If tomorrow I have to present (the UCI with) the contracts from B&B Hotels and those loyal technical partners, I could not present a viable plan to do another series at ProTeam level."
Cavendish shot back into form last year after years in the wilderness due to illness. He was drafted into the QuickStep team as a replacement for injured Sam Bennett and took his chance with both hands; winning four stages and the green jersey. Those wins brought Cavendish's career tally to 34 Tour victories, equal top of the all-time list with Eddy Merckx.
He wants to go back to the Tour next season and take at least one more win so he pulls clear of Merck at the top of the all-time list. B&B Hotels-KTM was seen as a team he could go to where he would be guaranteed a start at the Tour.
