Bianchi on the verge of a World Tour comeback: Italian bike manufacturer joins French team
Thomas Goldmann
· 03.11.2022
The new partnership between Bianchi and the Arkea-Samsic team also includes the women's Pro-Continental team and a development team. According to both sides, the collaboration is set to last "several years". Until recently, Arkea-Samsic rode Canyon bikes.
Click through: The racing bikes of the 2022 Tour de France teams
Bianchi has already announced which racing bikes Arkea-Samsic will be racing with in 2023. The highlight of the fleet is the new Bianchi Oltre RC, which was only recently presented.
Click through: This is the Bianchi Oltre
In addition, the lightweight Bianchi Specialissima model and the Bianchi Aquila for the time trials are also available as new professional work equipment for the Arkea-Samsic team. The team includes French stars Warren Barguil and Nacer Bouhanni, among others. Whereas with Nairo Quintana, one of the previous leaders his departure for the next season has already announced. How it went with the Colombian climbing specialist, whose disqualification from the 2022 Tour de France was confirmed by CAS on ThursdayThe next steps are still completely unclear.
Bianchi CEO comments on entry into Arkea-Samsic
The bike manufacturer's press release states that the cooperation with Arkea-Samsic is of great strategic importance in order to strengthen its own position on the French market. Bianchi CEO Fabrizio Scalzotto is looking forward to working together. "In recent years, the Arkea-Samsic team has grown by achieving its planned objectives. The solid organisation and the international approach are two factors that we consider crucial. In the coming years, we want to help achieve new goals and be well represented in the World Tour."
Bianchi was recently no longer part of the elite ranks of professional cycling after his sponsorship with BikeExchange ended after the 2021 season (BikeExchange now rides Giant bikes). Previously, Bianchi was also active with Jumbo-Visma until the end of the 2020 season (the Dutch riders switched to Cervélo).
Arkea-Samsic fulfils sporting criteria for World Tour
Even though there has been no official announcement from the UCI that Arkea-Samsic will be riding Bianchi bikes in the World Tour next season, they at least fulfil the sporting criteria. The French riders are ranked 18th in the three-year ranking for the awarding of World Tour licences, which would normally see them in cycling's premier league next year - should the necessary financial, administrative and ethical criteria be met - while Lotto Soudal (in future Lotto-Dstny) and Israel-Premier Tech would be relegated.
Arkea-Samsic manager Emmanuel Hubert says about the cooperation with Bianchi: "I am delighted to associate the Arkea-Samsic team with such a famous bicycle brand as Bianchi, which is known and recognised by all passionate cyclists for its merits and innovations. Bianchi has written the history of our sport in golden letters with famous riders - I had the chance to ride as a professional on bikes of this Italian brand that was and still is a star of the cycling industry."
