French World Tour team Arkéa-B&B Hotels could close after this season if it cannot raise additional funds. Team manager Emmanuel Hubert has admitted that the team is in "mortal danger" as it desperately seeks new sponsors or hopes that current backers will somehow help it survive this season.
Hubert founded the Britannia-based team in 2005 and reached WorldTour level in 2023, but is struggling to accumulate rating points and faces being demoted to ProTeam level or the team being closed down altogether. Arkéa-B&B Hotels also supports the women's ProTeam, which is also fighting for survival. A sponsor is being sought who is willing to shell out €25 million.
"Unfortunately, our situation is very simple. All contracts with our partners end at the end of 2025," said Hubert. "I'm talking to my current partners. I believe I'll have an answer by the end of April - then it's either end or continuation. I don't know if our partners want to continue with us or not, but I'm acting as if they decide to end. In today's cycling world, you need more money to survive. Even if the current partners continued, they wouldn't give more than they are now - and that's not enough. So I have to look elsewhere."
Hubert was recently close to securing a major French sponsor, but the deal fell through. He admitted he was looking for €25 million, and time is ticking. There is speculation that Arkéa-B&B Hotels' place in the World Tour will be taken by Norwegian Uno-X Mobility.
"I won't name names. It was a very large French company. The international situation didn't help," he said, referring to global economic uncertainty. "The nights are short and the days seem to be getting shorter. I've never been home so little because I spend so much time looking for a sponsor. "My team is in mortal danger. Especially if a decision has to be made by mid-June to close. If by then the answer is still no, we have to be sober. Saving something after that would be almost unheard of. That happened once with Jean-René Bernaudeau, who signed a contract with Europcar in late summer 2010. But these 'house-saving' deals are like a miracle."
Markus Pajur rode for the club then known as Team Arkéa Samsic in 2021-2022.
