<\/a><\/p>\n Having looked at the financial fortunes and prospects for teams last year, the topic keeps coming up already in 2026 so here\u2019s a fresh review of pitfalls ahead.<\/p>\n Like last year\u2019s post<\/a>, the point here is not to shout \u201cfire\u201d in a crowded place and spread doom. It\u2019s just a look at the issues ahead and how some teams have challenges to solve.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll start with Picnic-PostNL<\/strong> as the team only got a one year licence from the UCI. This decision wasn\u2019t helpful but practically one or three years, there\u2019s always an annual review in October so it\u2019s less admin and more a way of saying out loud the team must resolve financial issues. The team has a side-hustle in selling off riders which reached a new level with the sale of Oscar Onley to Ineos, generating millions in revenue. But this probably backfills previous losses. Fabio Jakobsen is on the last year of big contract while still struggling for results so the outlook could ease but right now the team hasn\u2019t had a win this year and sits on 25th place on the UCI rankings, all early but a tough start. Some good news is that Dutch postal service PostNL is keen to back the project.<\/p>\n Bahrain-Victorious<\/strong> is code for Bahrain-Your Name Here and the team has been open about wanting a co-sponsor but so far nobody. It\u2019s not an obvious match to have a co-sponsor named alongside a repressive state and this juxtaposition limits the scope. But the team\u2019s ambitions are restrained by the lack of another sponsor.<\/p>\n EF Education First-Easypost<\/strong> has gone public to find a co-sponsor<\/a>. It\u2019s not clear if Easypost is stopping but the the point is EF is willing to become the junior partner in naming rights if the team can find a new backer. A lot hinges on this because if they can land one then the team can get the financial firepower it needs, right now it can sustain a grand tour GC challenge with the likes of Richard Carapaz and in Ben Healy it has as solid chance of a Tour de France stage win too, short of hiring Jonathan Milan or Tadej Poga\u010dar. If no sponsor is found then the troubles could begin because while EF wants to stay, can it shoulder all the costs?<\/p>\n As said here a few times last year you could see a few dark clouds for Visma-Lease a Bike<\/strong>. The jersey is getting crowded with logos as the team seeks as much revenue as possible, costs have been cut with riders unloaded. Visma\u2019s stockmarket float was also cited as a possible threat as the Norwegian IT company could change its marketing; now it\u2019s doing this ahead of the float where saving tens of millions a year can make the business hundreds of millions more valuable. Which leaves the team searching for a big backer. For all the relaxed briefing from the team there\u2019s still an alarm bell as it needs to find someone soon, there\u2019s no cushion of capital to spend while waiting for a new backer. It ought to be an easy sell but that makes it a bellwether case.<\/p>\n Groupama-FDJ<\/strong> have a joint sponsorship agreement that runs until the end of 2027. That sounds like a long time away but now is the time to review this and here comes the problem. The costs of backing the team go up and up but the results have gone in the other direction, especially after Thibaut Pinot has left. They haven\u2019t won a Tour stage since 2018. The development team is a calling card as it can unearth talent but it\u2019s also a cost to run it.<\/p>\n Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9<\/strong> is newly formed from the merger and so for now there\u2019s no worry. But is it a sustainable project? Time will tell but Lotto brings a political angle as the Belgian state lottery funding means the team\u2019s funding is a national affair and comes with scrutiny from politicians. Like other teams can the costs of backing the project can keep rising but will politicians support this? It places more burden on Intermarch\u00e9 and the French sponsor needs to be aligned with the Belgian backers, you can imagine Intermarch\u00e9 wanting more French riders but Lotto insisting on an even balance of Flemish and Walloon Belgians.<\/p>\n Soudal-Quickstep<\/strong> is in an interesting season. It\u2019s built the team around Remco Evenepoel only he has left and so it is trying to revert to the wolfpack of old and pivot back to classics and one day races, stages included. Only this turn might take time. The nervous part is the Soudal sponsorship. Remember the sponsor and its founder Vic Swerts almost dropped the team to \u201cmerge\u201d with Visma in the wake of the Jumbo supermarket quitting the Dutch team. But Swerts stayed, in part keen to support Evenepoel. Now that\u2019s changed it\u2019s a story to watch.<\/p>\n NSN<\/strong>? In a sport driven by naming rights, being called Never Say Never is bold. There is a concept of having a cycling team that is\u00a0not a textile billboard<\/a>. Instead the strength comes from establishing a visual identity so strong that you don\u2019t have to read \u201cSoudal\u201d on the shorts or \u201cTudor\u201d on a jersey because you\u2019ve already thought it. However this squad appears to be more like \u201cNever Say Israel\u201d and a rebrand to keep protestors away. It is backed by some wealthy companies and individuals but what they\u2019re getting back isn\u2019t clear. So look to see if the project evolves during the year and what it does once the thrill of the Tour de France start is over.<\/p>\n Jayco-Al Ula<\/strong> had a wobble on the final approach to World Tour registration for last year but in the end Jerry Ryan came good and backed the team for three more years. But it came close to stopping, this was not an admin bungle. Ryan is another backer confronted with rising costs but diminishing returns and also the tricky path of promoting Australian sport and giving their riders a path to the top. The team needs Australian talent but has to bid alongside other squads for it which creates an asymmetry, they really want Aussies more than others and so risk paying a premium for them. They may not have to outbid every team to lure Aussies \u201chome\u201d but they have to be close.<\/p>\n Uno-X<\/strong> have the same issue as Jayco when it comes to recruiting home talent and only compounded since they only hire Norwegian and Danish riders. It does make for a coherent project whether on the team bus or in business given the sponsor only has business in these markets but again they have to bid big to secure home talent. The real concern is how long can a relatively small business sustain a World Tour team? Uno-X is a brand within the Reitan conglomerate whose name also appears on the kit, itself and also the Rema 100 stores it owns and the wider business has interests across the Baltic so there\u2019s probably cover to recruit here too. But for now how long does Uno-X want to stay in the sport? But there\u2019s good news this morning as the team has picked up a sponsor outside of Reitan\u2019s portfolio in Faxe Kondi, a soft drink brand.<\/p>\n Ineo Grenadiers<\/strong> has TotalEnergies as a co-sponsor, the template for many teams looking to retain ownership but expand with a co-sponsor so it\u2019s ahead of others. So safe? The parent company Ineos has financial strains and has cut back on its sports sponsorship. Since then things have not got easier, its bonds have taken a dive<\/a> which signals corporate distress and specifically the Grenadier car project has had some headwinds too. But the saving grace is personal as Jim Ratcliffe really enjoys having a cycling team. The only remaining question is the burden-sharing between the two sponsors for the future.<\/p>\n XDS-Astana<\/strong> seem to be thriving as a team. But can this sustain the sponsorship? XDS is the Cinese bike company with eyes on mimicking the growth story of Giant, selling everything from kids bikes to World Tour team issue bikes and keen to do this in its own name rather than as an OEM manufacturer. But funding a World Tour team is an expensive way to do this, it can easily cost ten times more. Canyon and Specialized find it more efficient to supply two teams each; there\u2019s only Trek left and now it\u2019s junior partner; Decathlon is a sponsor but to promote wider retail sales. Plus there\u2019s Kazakh political risk, the team can promote the nation and its sovereign wealth fund but is down to three Kazakhs now.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/64.media.tumblr.com\/6e732ac16820b8d8c143aeed87e5d122\/cbf88d9007618607-07\/s1280x1920\/47732148f3f93391e59e00df9949b04a772e495d.jpg\")
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