French retailer Decathlon is assuming sole ownership of the pro cycling team it has co-sponsored for the past two years, a move that was announced during the Tour de France, the sport’s biggest race.
Competing this year as Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, the team has been solely owned by French insurance company AG2R La Mondiale since 2022. The Paris-based firm became a team sponsor in 1997, and the team’s main corporate backer starting in 2000.
As part of the takeover, set to take effect in 2026, Decathlon plans to spend more than $47 million (40 million Euros) per year on the team, an executive told La Libre. That’s up from about $33 million (€28 million) this year, and would put it among the highest budgets for cycling teams in the world. In a statement announcing the deal, Decathlon said it planned to be one of the sport’s three best teams by 2028.
“This change is more than structural; it reflects our long-term strategic intention to deepen our involvement in the sport at the highest level,” Decathlon’s chief customer officer Céline Del Genes said in a statement. “We want to shape the future of the sport, not just sponsor its present.”
It’s unclear what specific financial concessions were made to transfer the ownership of the group, whose legal name is France Cyclisme. Pro cycling teams generally make the bulk of their money through sponsorships, and the team expects to announce a new naming sponsor before the end of the ongoing Tour de France. Representatives for both AG2R and Decathlon didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.
Pro cycling in the past few years has been dominated at the top by a select few teams, including UAE Team Emirates, home to Tour de France favorite Tadej Pogačar, and Team Visma Lease a Bike, home to Pogačar’s primary rival, Jonas Vingegaard. Those two teams have won nine of the past 12 Grand Tour titles, and their spending matches their dominance.
UAE’s budget is estimated around $60 million, according to Bicycling Magazine. Visma Lease A Bike’s was “north of $50 million,” the magazine said. The average budget on the WorldTour, factoring in the outliers at the top, was about $33 million (28 million Euros). Decathlon’s commitment to spending as much as $47 million per year would put it on the cusp of that highest echelon financially.
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale is one of four France-based teams currently operating at the WorldTour level, the highest in professional cycling. It currently ranks 10th in the UCI points standings, meaning it will almost certainly avoid relegation and retain a WorldTour license for the next three years.
The team’s roster includes 18-year-old French rider Paul Seixas, viewed by many as a potential Tour de France contender within the next decade. A French rider hasn’t won the Tour de France since Bernard Hinault in 1985; a French team hasn’t had the race winner since 1990.