Cyclist
Who actually are the pro cycling team sponsors 2024?
Professional cyclists have mainly raced in trade teams since the early days of the sport – apart from a 30ish-year period when Tour de France organiser Henri Desgrange decided countries were the way forward – meaning fans of the sport have a vast knowledge of companies they actually have no idea about, apart from getting excited when spotting one in B&Q.
How much do you actually know about the brands whose names dominate the highest level of pro cycling? Who is funding the biggest riders on the biggest stages? Whose logos are being etched in history on the roadside, on the TV, in pictures and on Netflix?
Welcome to our complete guide to the companies (and countries) behind the teams of the men’s and women’s Tour de France, detailing what they do and who owns them.
AG Insurance-Soudal
AG Insurance-Soudal have been around since 2019 when they formed as Rogelli-Gyproc-APB, but they became NXTG Racing and stepped up to Continental level in 2020 before the Soudal-QuickStep men’s team took control in 2023, tagging their sponsors on too. The ‘QuickStep’ part of the name was dropped for 2024.
AG Insurance is a Belgian insurance company that was founded all the way back in 1824 and works for both individuals and companies. It’s 75% owned by the Ageas insurance group, which is Belgium’s largest insurer, operates in 14 countries and is listed on the Euronext Brussels exchange. Four of Ageas’ biggest shareholders are private equity firms Fosun (one of China’s biggest conglomerates, which owns Wolverhampton Wanderers among other things), SFPI-FPIM (Belgium’s sovereign wealth fund), Vanguard (the second biggest asset management firm in the world) and Schroder (a London-based firm operating since 1800).
The other 25% is owned by BNP Paribas Fortis bank, which funnily enough used to be part of the same company as Ageas, but when BNP took over Fortis Bank Belgium there was a split. BNP Paribas, its parent bank, is one of the largest companies in the world, its largest shareholders being a multitude of investment firms including the biggest two, BlackRock and Vanguard, as well as the governments of Belgium and Luxembourg.
Soudal is a Belgian building materials company founded in 1966 that specialises in producing silicone, caulks, polyurethane foams and adhesive for businesses, professionals and consumers – you’ll find its products in B&Q and other DIY shops. It’s still owned by company founder Vic Swerts. It’s technically part of the Soudal Group, with other brands in the group selling similar products worldwide.
Alpecin-Deceuninck
Multi-discipline team Alpecin-Deceuninck (with previous title sponsors BKCP, Powerplus, Corendon, Beobank, Circus and Fenix – who still sponsor the team) have been going since 2008 but actually only joined the WorldTour this season after the UCI’s new promotion/relegation system meant they breezed in off the back of big wins from Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen and co.
If you watch cycling with adverts you know exactly what Alpecin is. A keen cycling sponsor with prior involvements with Giant-Alpecin and Katusha-Alpecin, Alpecin is a German shampoo brand that makes ‘caffeine shampoo’. It’s part of the Dr Wolff Group, which includes seven brands specialising in hair, dental and skincare.
Previous QuickStep sponsor Deceuninck is a Belgian window and door company that says it provides ‘a combination of sustainability, design and comfort’. Founded by the Deceuninck family from Flanders in 1937 as a small plastics producer, the Deceuninck NV group is listed on the Euronext Brussels stock exchange, with its main shareholders executive chairman Francis Jozef Willem van Eeckhout, vice-chairman Wilhelmus Hendrix and Frank Deceuninck with significant investment from various international asset management firms including Santander and BNP Paribas.
Arkéa-B&B Hotels
Arkéa-B&B Hotels are a French team from Brittany previously known as Arkéa-Samsic that have long been part of the furniture in big races as a ProTour team. They began life in 2005 as Bretagne-Jean Floc’h and have also had name sponsors from Armor Lux, Schuller, Séché Environnement, Fortuneo, Vital Concept and Oscaro. The women’s team, Arkéa Pro Cycling were formed in 2020 and are Continental level.
Arkéa comes from the French banking group Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, with nearly 40 subsidiaries. The company was originally set up in 1911 by Breton landowners who wanted to invest in the local countryside and now includes banks, insurers, asset management, real estate, B2B services and more. It is part of the Crédit Mutuel group, which consists of a vast number of banks and financial services companies across the world. Cofidis is owned by another member of this group.
B&B Hotels previously sponsored a different French team that controversially folded before the 2023 season, it replaces Samsic in this team from 2024. B&B Hotels is a budget hotel chain founded in Brest, Brittany, in 1990 and currently operates in 15 countries. Goldman Sachs took over majority ownership of the company in 2019.
Astana Qazaqstan
Astana Qazaqstan were formed in 2007 after Astana initially stepped in as sponsor of the old Liberty Seguros-Würth team in 2006 following the Operación Puerto doping scandal. They were briefly co-sponsored by Premier Tech in 2021 but reverted to Astana as lone sponsor after Alexander Vinokourov rejoined as general manager. Mark Cavendish joined the team in 2023.
Named after the capital city of Kazakhstan, the team’s actual sponsor is called Samruk-Kazyna, which is Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund. Samruk-Kazyna’s portfolio consists of companies within Kazakhstan, including the national railway, postal service, oil and gas company, uranium company and airline.
Bahrain Victorious
Started in 2017 as Bahrain-Merida, they became Bahrain-McLaren in 2020 and Bahrain Victorious in 2021, funnily enough having most of their success once ‘Victorious’ was added to the name.
The team was created by the Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who is third in line to the throne and a senior member of the government, including leading the Royal Guard and Supreme Defence Council. Financial support comes from state-owned Bahrain Economic Development Board, Bapco (Bahrain Petroleum Company), Batelco (Bahrain Telecommunication Company), National Bank of Bahrain, Al Salam Bank and Alba (Aluminium Bahrain) as opposed to a sovereign wealth fund.
Bora-Hansgrohe
Ralph Denk’s Bora-Hansgrohe team started life in 2010 as Team NetApp and had spells with Endura and Argon-18 before they became the WorldTour staple of Bora-Hansgrohe in 2017. It’s a very German affair although their biggest successes have come from Slovakian Peter Sagan’s Tour de France green jersey and Paris-Roubaix wins in 2018 and Australian Jai Hindley’s Giro d’Italia victory in 2022. Red Bull acquired a controlling stake in Bora-Hansgrohe in 2024 so look out for future kit and name changes.
Bora is a German manufacturer of cooking extractor systems that do away with hoods, taking vapours back down into the kitchen unit to either clean it or get rid of it.
Hansgrohe is a German manufacturer of sanitary fittings, ie, shower heads, hand showers and taps. It was founded in 1901 by Hans Grohe and is not to be confused with competitor Grohe, which was founded by Hans Grohe’s son. Bet their family Christmases were fun. Hansgrohe has two main shareholders: the family of Hans’ youngest son Klaus and Masco Corporation, an American conglomerate specialising in home improvement. Masco is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and was 413rd on the Fortune 500 last year.
Canyon-SRAM
One of the Women’s WorldTour’s biggest teams with probably the most recognisable sponsors in all of cycling, Canyon-SRAM (you’ll see it written as Canyon//SRAM but who uses slashes?) haven’t changed their name since they was founded in 2016 by former Velocio-SRAM team manager Ronny Lauke.
Canyon is one of the world’s biggest bike brands, the German company producing the popular Aeroad and Ultimate bikes, which are also ridden by Alpecin-Deceuninck, Fenix-Deceuninck and Movistar.
Chicago-based SRAM is one of the world’s two biggest component manufacturers, which also owns RockShox, Truvativ, Zipp, Quarq, Time and Hammerhead.
Ceratizit-WNT
Women’s Continental team Ceratizit-WNT was formed as British amateur team WNT in 2014, went pro three years later and became German in 2019 just before sponsor Ceratizit came on board. They previously had two years as WNT-Rotor. Riders include dominant British track cyclist Katie Archibald, though she won’t feature in the Tour de France.
Ceratizit is a manufacturer of cutting tools and safety equipment from Luxembourg. It operates across the world and holds over 1,000 patents. It’s parts of the Plansee Group, a private Austrian company that also includes Plansee and Global Tungsten & Powders, focussing on the production and processing of tungsten and molybdenum for tools and components. WNT is part of the Ceratizit Group and specialises in the wholesale distribution of tools, it serves companies in the bike industry including Hope Tech and Rotor Bike Components, who previously sponsored the team.
Cofidis
A stalwart of the peloton, French team Cofidis have always been Cofidis since starting in 1997. The women’s team was formed in 2022.
Cofidis the company is a consumer loans company owned by Crédit Mutuel, which consists of a vast number of banks and financial services companies across the world, including Arkéa.
Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale began life in 1992 as Chazal-Vanille et MûreVetta and had a brief stint as Petit Casino before AG2R came on in 1997 and has stayed ever since, originally alongside Casino for three seasons then alone until 2021 when Citroën joined the fun. Decathlon replaced Citroën for the 2024 season on a five-year deal.
Decathlon is a French sports retailer with stores in 56 countries spanning five continents. It sells products both from brands and in-house creations across all sorts of sports including cycling. It’s widely known in cycling for its budget bikes sold under the B-Twin, Rockrider and Triban names but introduced the Van Rysel brand in 2018 to sell premium products. Van Rysel is providing Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale’s bikes and kit from 2024. Decathlon is a family-owned company that was founded in 1976 by Michel Leclercq and its ownership is currently split into three: the Leclerq family have 40%, the Mulliez family have 40% and the employees have 20%. Gérard Mulliez is Leclercq’s cousin and is one of the richest men in the world, he founded French retail group Auchan and heads up the family’s holding company, which has investments in a number of retail chains.
AG2R La Mondiale is a French insurance and financial services company that operates worldwide, and is also France’s biggest pension provider. It was formed when the Paris-based AG2R Group merged with the Lille-based La Mondiale Group.
DSM-Firmenich-PostNL
DSM-Firmenich-PostNL are the Dutch-via–Germany team that’s been knocking around since 2005 under Shimano-Memory Corp, Skil Shimano, Argos-Shimano, Giant-Shimano, Giant-Alpecin and Sunweb before DSM took control in 2021. They stepped up to the WorldTour in 2013 as Argos-Shimano with the likes of Marcel Kittel, Tom Dumoulin, John Degenkolb and a young Warren Barguil. The women’s team have been going since 2011 under various similar guises, with two years as Liv-Plantur and four as Team Sunweb before aligning as Team DSM in 2021. Both teams were renamed DSM-Firmenich for the 2023 Giro Donne and men’s Tour de France following the merger of the two companies. PostNL joined the team in 2024.
DSM is a health, nutrition and materials corporation that started life in 1902 as a state-owned coal mining company called Dutch State Mines. Within DSM there are businesses in animal nutrition, human nutrition, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and food and drinks. DSM merged with Swiss flavour and fragrance company Firmenich in May 2023 with the team soon reflecting that with a new logo and blue kit. The company is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange with the biggest shareholders the world’s largest asset management firms including Norges Bank (Norway’s central bank), Capital Group (one of the biggest and oldest firms), Artisan Partners (a listed American firm), Amundi (one of Europe’s biggest firms), Vanguard and BlackRock (the world’s two biggest firms).
Firmenich was founded in 1895, though it went under Chuit & Naef for the first few years until Fred Firmenich joined the company and became the majority owner. It produces fragrances and flavours for processed and preserved foods. Firmenich has acquired many smaller flavour companies over the years while staying as a private company, but merged with the public DSM in 2023.
PostNL is a Dutch delivery company founded in 1998 when government-owned KPN took over Australian company TNT Limited; it was known as TNT NV until 2011, when TNT Express was separated and TNT NV became PostNL. It’s currently listed on the Euronext stock exchange and its biggest shareholder is Vesa Equity Investment at 29.5%, with major investments from media tycoon John de Mol Jr and investment firms Vanguard Group, Norges Bank and EdenTree. Vesa is also the biggest shareholder in Royal Mail and Sainsbury’s is run by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský, who owns the biggest energy group in Central Europe, co-owns Sparta Prague football team and is a shareholder and director at West Ham.
EF Education-EasyPost
Jonathan Vaughters’ team have been going in various guises (barely keeping the same name for more than a season at a time) since 2003, when they were just a junior development team called 5280-Subaru. They went big time when Slipstream Sports took charge and Garmin became the main sponsor alongside Chipotle, Transitions, Cervélo, Barracuda, Sharp and Cannondale until 2016. EF Education First joined as the main sponsor from 2018 alongside Drapac and Cannondale before going it alone for two years, taking Nippo on board for 2021 and finally EasyPost from 2022.
EF Education First is a Swiss-based, Swedish-founded education company that provides language training, educational travel, exchange programmes and academic programmes, it’s also known in some Asian countries as English First.
EasyPost is an e-commerce software company that helps businesses use delivery services such as UPS, USPS and FedEx. The San Francisco-based company has 30 investors including Google Ventures, Ram Shriram (billionaire and one of Google’s first investors and board members), Ashton Kutcher and several venture capitalist and start-up investment firms.
FDJ-Suez
Iconic French cycling sponsor FDJ joined the women’s team formerly known as Vienne Futuroscope and Poitou-Charentes.Futoroscope.86 in 2017, going five years as FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope before Suez joined in 2022. Although the sponsor and aesthetic is slightly different, FDJ-Suez are joined with the Groupama-FDJ men’s team.
FDJ is Française des Jeux, France’s national lottery. It used to be state-owned but the French government sold off most of its shares in 2019. Despite that, the government is still the biggest shareholder, backed up by several investment firms including BlackRock and Vanguard, the world’s two biggest asset management firms, and the Norwegian state-owned Norges Bank.
Suez is not the canal, it’s a French utility company that works internationally mainly in water and waste management. Your local tip may be Suez-run. The company is listed on the Paris and Brussels Euronext exchanges and its biggest shareholders are infrastructure-focussed investment firms Meridiam and Global Infrastructure Partners.
Fenix-Deceuninck
Alpecin-Deceuninck’s women’s road team, Fenix-Deceuninck, was formed by the multi-discipline outfit in 2020 as Ciclismo Mundial and then Plantur-Pura, and joined the Women’s WorldTour in 2023 to complete the roster of teams for a promotion/relegation cycle. Fenix-Deceuninck riders still race under Alpecin-Deceuninck in cyclocross and mountain biking.
Fenix is a material for sinks and wall coverings developed by Italian manufacturer Arpa Industriale. Arpa specialises in producing high pressure laminate for interior design.
Previous QuickStep sponsor Deceuninck is a Belgian window and door company that says it provides ‘a combination of sustainability, design and comfort’. Founded by the Deceuninck family from Flanders in 1937 as a small plastics producer, the Deceuninck NV group is listed on the Euronext Brussels stock exchange with its main shareholders executive chairman Francis Jozef Willem van Eeckhout, vice-chairman Wilhelmus Hendrix and Frank Deceuninck, with significant investment from various international asset management firms including Santander and BNP Paribas.
Groupama-FDJ
Marc Madiot’s team have been a mainstay in cycling since they began in 1997 and mostly have had just the one sponsor in FDJ, which was briefly joined by BigMat in 2012. Groupama has been on board since 2018.
Groupama is a French group of mutual insurance companies operating worldwide. Originally set up by farmers in 1840, the name stands for Groupe des Assurances Mutuelles Agricoles.
FDJ is Française des Jeux, France’s national lottery. It used to be state-owned but the French government sold off most of its shares in 2019. Despite that, the government is still the biggest shareholder, backed up by several investment firms including BlackRock and Vanguard, the world’s two biggest asset management firms, and the Norwegian state-owned Norges Bank.
Human Powered Health
Human Powered Health began life as Optum Pro Cycling in 2012 and spent a few years ‘powered by’ Kelly Benefit Strategies before becoming Rally Cycling in 2016 and Human Powered Health in 2022 when the women’s side stepped up to the WorldTour. Its men’s team is a ProTour squad.
Human Powered Health is a sports science company with physiologists that aim to help people become people improve athletically, putting customers through assessments before offering personalised recommendations on physical training, psychology, nutrition, equipment and recovery.
Ineos Grenadiers
There are some people who still call Ineos Grenadiers ‘Team Sky’. Dave Brailsford’s British team was formed in 2009 with the aim of having a British Tour de France winner in five years, of course it was sooner than that as Bradley Wiggins won it in 2012. They became Team Ineos in 2019 and Ineos Grenadiers from the 2020 Tour de France.
Ineos was formed in 1992 as Inspec by Jim Ratcliffe, a former private equity group director, in order to buy out BP’s chemicals arm. Three years later when the company bought BP’s ethylene oxide and glycol businesses, and renamed as Inspec Ethylene Oxide Specialties, which became Ineos a few years after that.
The Ineos group now consists of 36 businesses in 29 countries, these include producing a wide range of plastics and chemicals for businesses, extracting oil and gas – including shale, which is extracted through fracking – a hygienics company started during Covid, the Belstaff clothing brand and producing the Ineos Grenadier. The Ineos Grenadier is a 4×4 off-road car designed to be a modern version of the original Land Rover Defender. It went into production in France in July 2022 and an electric version is said to start production in Austria in 2026. Ineos also has investments and sponsorships in Formula 1, sailing, rugby, running and football.
Intermarché-Wanty
Intermarché-Wanty started life as Willems Verandas in 2008, Accent joined the Belgian team as a sponsor in 2011 before Wanty came in 2013 and Gobert in 2014 for an extended run as Wanty-Groupe Gobert. Short periods as Wanty-Gobert, Circus Wanty Gobert and a couple of years as Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux until 2023 when they became Intemarché-Circus-Wanty, Circus was dropped as name sponsor in 2024. They joined the WorldTour in 2021 when they bought the folded CCC team’s licence and also have the Tormans cyclocross team.
Intermarché is a French supermarket chain that you may have shopped in if you’ve holidayed in France, Belgium, Portugal or Poland. It’s part of the Les Mousquetaires group, which includes stores like the Bricomarché DIY shops and Netto discount supermarket.
Wanty is a Belgian construction and civil engineering company that’s been going since 1946. It does all sorts of public works including roadworks, demolition, sewage, waste, quarrying building construction and more.
Roland
Men’s team Israel-Premier Tech joined onto the Swiss Roland-Cogeas-Edelweiss Squad women’s team for the 2023 season to create Israel-Premier Tech-Roland, with Cogeas having been a title sponsor since the team’s inception in 2018. Mettler and Look joined as sponsors between 2018 and 2021 but stepped back as the team stepped up to the WorldTour. Israel-Premier Tech dropped out before the 2024 season and the team became Roland.
Roland is a Swiss long-life baked goods company started by master baker Leopold Schöffler in 1939. It’s owned by French-speaking Swiss bakery group Cornu, which includes Roland, puff pastry snack manufacturer Cansimag and La Fabrique, and Swiss bread maker Holle.
Jayco-AlUla / Liv-Jayco-AlUla
Australia’s Team Sky, Jayco-AlUla have had a pretty good run since forming in 2011 as GreenEDGE Cycling. Orica also came on board from their first season for six years, Scott Sports for four, Mitchelton for three and BikeExchange for two before Jayco joined in 2022 and AlUla stepped up to title sponsor for the 2023 season. The women’s team merged with Liv Racing-Teqfind before the 2024 season to become Liv-Jayco-AlUla.
Jayco is an American RV manufacturer started in 1968 by Lloyd and Bertha Bontrager (no relation to cycling’s Bontrager, we think). It was bought out in 2016 by fellow US RV manufacturer Thor Industries, which has acquired several other RV manufacturers over the years and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Jayco Australia is a franchise owned by Australian businessman Gerry Ryan, who is a part owner of the Jayco-AlUla team and also owns former sponsor Mitchelton. Ryan was the president of Cycling Australia in 2013 and also has financial interests in a rugby league team, Aussie Rules football team, basketball teams and racehorses.
The AlUla sponsor is the tourist board for the ancient city of Al-‘Ula in Saudi Arabia, which is packed with historic and archaeological sites, including UNESCO World Heritage Site Hegra. Experience AlUla, the tourist board, is run by the Royal Commission for Al-‘Ula, a Saudi Arabian government agency set up to preserve the city.
Liv Cycling is the women’s arm of Giant Bicycles, the world’s biggest bike manufacturer. Giant is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, with its biggest shareholder chairperson Bonnie Tu, and significant investment from asset management firms HSBC, GIC (run by the government of Singapore), Schroders (a London-based firm operating since 1800), Vanguard and BlackRock (the world’s two biggest firms).
Lidl-Trek
Lidl-Trek are the American team that started life in 2011 as Luxembourg outfit Leopard-Trek with Andy and Fränk Schleck and several other former Saxo Bank riders. They became RadioShack-Nissan, RadioShack-Nissan-Trek and RadioShack-Leopard before a couple of seasons as Trek Factory Racing and Trek-Segafredo from 2016. The women’s team are one of the peloton’s most formidable squads headlined by Lizzie Deignan, Elisa Longo Borghini, Ellen van Dijk and Elisa Balsamo, they began life in 2018 as Trek Factory Racing and joining as Trek-Segafredo the following season. The team name changed to Lidl-Trek from 30th June, just in time for the Giro Donne and men’s Tour de France.
You probably already know Lidl, the German discount supermarket chain and Aldi rival with an excellent bakery, it operates in all EU countries as well as the UK, USA, Switzerland and Serbia. Lidl is part of and was set up by the Schwarz Group, which also owns the smaller Kaufland supermarket chain. Schwarz Group is owned by Dieter Schwarz, son of Josef Schwarz, company founder.
Trek is one of the world’s biggest bike brands, set up in 1975 as part of appliance distributor Roth Corporation by Dick Burke and Bevil Hogg, when it began making steel touring bikes. Now Trek makes bikes across all genres including the Madone, Domane and Emonda road bikes, and owns the Bontrager components brand, Electra e-bikes and cycling holiday company Trek Travel. Trek is still owned by Roth Distributing Co.
Movistar
Spanish outfit Movistar are the oldest pro cycling team, having been racing since 1980 with ten years as Reynolds before 11 years as Banesto and a few as iBanesto.com before Illes Balears came aboard for three years. Caisse d’Epargne were sponsors from 2005 until 2010 when Movistar took over. Big names have included five-time Tour winner Miguel Induráin. The Movistar women’s team was formed in 2018.
Movistar is a Spanish telecoms company that provides mobile, landline and broadband in Spain and Spanish-speaking American countries. It’s part of the Telefónica group, which includes the Telefónica telecoms brand as well as Movistar, Virgin Media O2, O2 Germany, Vivo and Telxius. Telefónica was previously state-owned but is now fully listed on several stock exchanges. Its biggest shareholders are Spanish financial services companies BBVA and CaixaBank, Vanguard (the second biggest asset management firm in the world), Norges Bank (Norway’s central bank) and Amundi (one of Europe’s biggest asset management firms).
SD Worx
SD Worx are the team in women’s cycling right now, cleaning up in 2023 thanks to Demi Vollering, Lotte Kopecky, Lorena Wiebes and Marlen Reusser. The Dutch team have been racing – and winning – since 2010 when they were Dolmans-Landscaping and they had a long stint as Boels-Dolmans until 2021.
SD Worx the company is a Belgian HR services company operating across Europe. Its parent company is WorxInvest, which was started in 2018 as SD Worx’s investment arm, putting money into private equity funds as well as small- and medium-sized companies.
Soudal-QuickStep
Started in 2003 from the ashes of Domo-Farm Frites and Mapei-QuickStep, Soudal-QuickStep are the traditional big daddies of the peloton. The Belgian team run by Patrick Lefevere have always kept the QuickStep sponsor, which has been joined over the years by Davitamon, Innergetic, Omega Pharma, Etixx, Deceuninck and now Soudal, who came over from the Lotto team.
Soudal is a Belgian building materials company founded in 1966 that specialises in producing silicone, caulks, polyurethane foams and adhesive for businesses, professionals and consumers, you’ll find its products in B&Q and the like. It’s still owned by company founder Vic Swerts. It’s technically part of the Soudal Group, with other brands in the group selling similar products worldwide.
QuickStep can also be found in B&Q but not in the same aisle. Founded in West Flanders in 1960, QuickStep is a floor manufacturer, producing laminate, vinyl and wood floors for households. It’s part of the Unilin Group, which consists of five divisions specialising in different areas of construction: floors (which includes – but isn’t limited to – QuickStep), wood panels, insulation, research and development and carpeting.
UAE Team ADQ
UAE Team ADQ have been going since 2011, starting as Mcipollini-Giordana, adding Giambenini for a year before becoming Alé-Cipollini in 2014, adding Galassia to that for a year and then changing to Alé-BTC Ljubljana for 2020 and 2021 when they stepped up to the WorldTour. At the start of 2022 the UAE Team Emirates men’s team took over and rebranded the women’s team in their image with ADQ instead of Emirates.
UAE obviously refers to the United Arab Emirates, the country in the Middle East that took over UAE Team Emirates in 2017.
ADQ is an investment company owned by the government of Abu Dhabi set up to help the diversify the UAE’s income beyond oil.
UAE Team Emirates
UAE Team Emirates started life all the way back in 1999, they were the Lampre team from then until 2017 when UAE took over. While they were Lampre they had a few co-sponsors over the years in Daikin, Caffita, Fondital, NGC, Farnese Vini, ISD and Merida. These days, they’re the team of Tadej Pogačar.
As mentioned above, UAE refers to the United Arab Emirates, the country in the Middle East.
Emirates is the Dubai-based airline that’s part of The Emirates Group, which owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai, the government of Dubai’s sovereign wealth fund.
Uno-X Mobility
Uno-X Mobility are a men’s and women’s team, although the the men aren’t in the WorldTour yet. They’re a Norwegian team that started in 2010 but the women only got going in 2022 and went straight into the sport’s top level. They were known as Uno-X Pro Cycling until 2024. The men’s team is exclusively Norwegian and Danish riders but the women’s team includes British trio Joss Lowden, Elinor Barker and Hannah Barnes.t
Uno-X Mobility is a fuel station chain that operates in Norway and Denmark and includes ultra-fast electric vehicle charging and a car wash. It’s part of Reitan Retail, which is the retail arm of the Reitan conglomerate, with other businesses in the group a property company and an investment company. Retain Retail includes the 7-Eleven and Rema 1000 chains and Uno-X joined the group in 2006 when Reitan bought Hydro Texaco in Norway and Denmark. Reitan is still run by the Reitan family who started the company in 1948. Odd Reitan, the son of founder Ole, is the chair, CEO and owner of Reitan.
Visma-Lease a Bike
Visma-Lease a Bike are one of the oldest teams in the modern peloton. Founded in 1984 as Kwantum-Decosol with most of the squad coming from the folded TI-Raleigh team, the multi-discipline and multi-sport (they also have a speed skating team) Dutch team have been at the top of the sport for decades and despite nearly folding in 2012, are back at the top. Having been around for so long, there have been many iterations, most not lasting very long, but most famously they were Rabobank from 1996 to 2012. The Jumbo-Visma women’s team launched in 2021. Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo reduced its sponsorship at the end of 2023 and the team became Visma-Lease a Bike.
Visma is a Norwegian software provider, IT developer and consultancy founded in 1996 after three business merged. It operates across Europe and is mostly owned by private equity firm Hg, which is ranked 17th on Private Equity International’s 2022 ranking of the world’s biggest private equity firms. Visma is one of the firm’s biggest investments.
Lease a Bike is, unsurprisingly, a bike leasing company that leases bikes to companies and their employees in Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Belgium. It’s owned by Pon Holdings, a Dutch transport conglomerate that already had a stake in the team as owners of Cervélo bikes. Pon’s portfolio also includes Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Cannondale, Cupra, Focus, GT Bicycles, Lamborghini, Nimbl (the team’s shoe provider), Porsche, Reserve Wheels, Santa Cruz, Schwinn, Seat, Škoda, Urban ArrowS and Volkswagen. Pon was founded in 1980 by former racing driver Ben Pon Jr. and it’s still owned by the Pon family.
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