https://archive.is/L9fTn

While the winning man took home 1,490 euros with a victory in the prologue, Lieke Nooijen received 220 euros as the best woman.

English translation below

TotalEnergies appears saved from collapse: 23 riders already under contract

For months, rumors have been swirling about the future of TotalEnergies. Dark clouds seemed to gather over the French ProTeam. This was fueled by the fact that in recent weeks one top rider after another from TotalEnergies signed contracts elsewhere. The team appeared beyond saving, but nothing could be further from the truth. Multiple sources confirm this to Wielerflits.

The future of TotalEnergies has been hanging by a thread for months. After main sponsor TotalEnergies announced last year that it would leave at the end of 2026, team boss Jean-René Bernaudeau and the recently hired Stéphane Heulot began a search for new backers. During the Tour de France, Bernaudeau said he still needed around ten million euros to complete the budget for 2027.

In June there were rumors about the creation of a women’s team, while in August cautiously positive signals emerged. According to the French site Velo-Club.net, various riders had been told that the team would continue next year under a different name. The Chinese bike brand Pardus was also mentioned as a possible successor to CUBE. An official confirmation of a new main sponsor, however, never came.

15 October was an important day

The first deadline for team registration with the UCI is annually on 15 October. In recent days several international media reported on the uncertainty surrounding the French team. A return to Continental level was repeatedly suggested, with the team supposedly continuing on the structure of its development squad Vendée U. In that scenario, France would have lost another ProTeam after Vital Concept and Arkéa-B&B Hotels.

On Thursday afternoon all those involved with the team received good news for 2027. The UCI deadline was met (with a bank guarantee submitted) and confidence is high that the squad will also receive a ProTeam licence for the coming season. One of the driving forces behind securing the future is Tony Gallopin. The former rider (and former yellow jersey wearer) suddenly left Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at the beginning of this year and has now surfaced at TotalEnergies.

Minimum budget and 23 to 25 riders

Behind the scenes hard work has been done to secure new sponsors. Which sponsor(s) this involves is not yet clear. At present the team already has 23 riders under contract for next season. According to our information, Simon Dehairs (currently still at Alpecin-Premier Tech) is one of those 23 names, and the team is transferring the necessary talents from Vendée U. Exactly which riders (current riders and new names) are involved is not yet entirely clear to us.

The French team will operate next year with a minimum budget, but still hopes to obtain a ProTeam licence from the UCI. Should the team manage to lock in an additional sponsor, there would be room for two extra riders. Gallopin himself will take on the role of Head of Performance. He is no stranger to CEO Stéphane Heulot, with whom he worked last year at Lotto. Things therefore look good for the French, although they remain dependent on the UCI’s licence commission.

Many top riders are leaving

In the current season TotalEnergies worked with a roster of 28 riders. Eleven of them will definitely not return next year under the new name. Geoffrey Bouchard, Fabien Grellier and Lorrenzo Manzin are retiring, while strong riders such as Anthony Turgis, Nicolas Breuillard (both to XDS Astana), Jordan Jegat (Lidl-Trek), Alexandre Delettre and Emilien Jeannière (both to Groupama-FDJ United) have already found employment elsewhere. In addition to all the certainties, Diario de Burgos on Thursday also linked Mathieu Burgaudeau with Burgos Burpellet BH. That would see him follow the path of Thomas Bonnet and Mattéo Vercher.

French biopharma giant Sanofi announced today that it will become a major partner of the Tour de France starting in 2027, and notably the first company to sponsor the iconic White Jersey (best young rider classification) in both the men's Tour and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

According to the announcement, the partnership is intended to go beyond branding. Sanofi says it plans to use the Tour's huge audience to promote health awareness, disease prevention, and public education initiatives in collaboration with healthcare professionals and patient organizations. These programs are expected to appear in host cities, fan zones, along the race route, and online.

The company highlighted the Tour's reach, with millions of spectators lining the roads each year and broadcasts reaching around 190 countries.

It's another step in Sanofi's growing involvement in sports, following its partnerships around the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Source: Sanofi press release (16 Oct 2026) and L'Equipe.

Care to elaborate

Long interview (in french) of Christophe Basson. He is known for being the only clean guy in the peloton during the festina/armstrong era.

From 2024 Zwift Academy winner to 2027 WorldTour rider, Emily Dixon just continues to level up.

Still only 19, Emily has signed a two-year contract with the CANYON//SRAM WorldTeam after two seasons with the CANYON//SRAM Generation continental squad, marking a significant milestone in her career and the realisation of a long-held dream.

In this short chat, Emily reflects on the exciting news, the experiences that have shaped her development, and what lies ahead as she prepares to take on the highest level of the sport.

As a team that has always prided itself on taking a fresh and innovative approach to cycling, it’s particularly rewarding to see Zwift Academy talent flourish – reinforcing a belief in looking beyond conventional pathways to discover talent.

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"Zwift Academy has not been cancelled," the spokesperson told Escape. "The next edition of Zwift Academy will be the 10th anniversary. Taking a year out gives us the space we need to properly re-launch the program. We want to make the 10th year the biggest yet, with a clearer focus on talent ID and a better Zwift Academy Finals production as well."

So hopefully in the coming months more news?

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/zwift-academy-which-brought-jay-vine-and-neve-bradbury-to-the-worldtour-put-on-pause-as-platform-steps-back-from-elite-racing

First Cycling