The cycling story of the B&B Hotels-Ktm , a French Professional formation led by Jerome Pineau, seems to have come to an end.

The team, in which the Italian Luca Mozzato plays, could close by the end of the year due to lack of funds. Although the UCI has allowed more time to present the documents necessary for the registration, which deadline was November 30th, to date there is no good news on the arrival of the promised sponsors at the end of the season.

But there's more: according to the transalpine press, Pineau himself, in a dramatic virtual meeting that took place yesterday, told the riders that they are free to look for another team .

The second option on the table is to continue with a much lower budget than expected and without the purchases that seemed to have already been made, see Mark Cavendish . B&B Hotels-KTM had the main objective of attracting new sponsors to raise a budget of around 15 million euros for 2023, a figure which then dropped to between 5 and 7 million in order to survive.

At this point it will be difficult for many athletes to find a lineup that can welcome them one month before the start of the competitions and with training camps starting next week.

Among the most interesting names on the French team are Axel Laurance , second in the Bretagne Classic (apparently close to Ineos and Quick Step), the fugitives Franck Bonnamour and Alexis Gougeard as well as the 'historic' Pierre Rolland and Cyril Gautier . And then there is, as written, Luca Mozzato. The Venetian has shown his qualities, especially in the Northern races, during 2022. There are already several teams on his trail, with Arkea in pole position.

For a soap opera ending, hopefully less sad than expected.

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