Cavendish's signing delayed, B&B Hotels-KTM postpone presentation and struggle to meet UCI deadlines

B&B Hotels-KTM have for the last few months been working on a rebuild for the team, with a lot of new budget coming in. Everything seemed to be on point, but the team has delayed it's long-awaited presentation that was set for this 26th of October, breaking the image that the process is going as planned.

Mark Cavendish is said to have already signed with the French team, looking to race the Tour de France next year. Alongside him, the like of Max Richeze and Ramon Sinkeldam are expected to be revealed as his leadout men, with the likes of Cees Bol and Nick Schultz also to be announced. The announcement of the project was due for tomorrow, but due to the "absence of some of the main stakeholders in the 2023 team's project" it has been postponed with no update.

“Since the day of the arrival of the Tour on the Champs-Élysées and the announcement of the association of the City of Paris with its professional team from 2023, Jérôme Pineau has hardly given any sign of life," the report says. "Two months later, nobody really knows if things are moving in the right direction and no official communication has been made on the subject."

The project, which is set to be supported by the city of Paris, would have a €15 million euro budget that would also include a new women's team, set to feature double French national champion Audrey Cordon-Ragot. “But business is complicated. The negotiations would today revolve around a global budget of fifteen million euros in the best case, including the future women’s team. But nothing seems signed yet," the report continues.

“In terms of potential investors, the names of the firms Amazon France, Carrefour or Cdiscount have largely fueled the rumor in recent weeks. Nothing should work out. According to our information, the most serious track today leads to Engie, supplier of natural gas and green electricity, while that of Enedis, manager of the French electricity distribution network, is rumored," they have hinted.

The signs however are not good. Whereas the team did not manage to get themselves in the provisional ProTeam list for 2023, it was believed to be a choice. Now it becomes clear that the cause have been the delays, which are pushing the team into a dangerous place as we enter November and there appear to be no confirmations yet of how the project will be shaped.