“Honestly, I don’t understand,” regrets Emmanuel Hubert, who was unable to attract new sponsors to take over Arkéa-B&B Hotels

Fourth in the team rankings of the last Tour de France, the Arkéa-B&B Hotels team marks the end of its existence after the withdrawal of its two sponsors and the impossibility of finding new ones.

He attempted a final blow by jumping on a train to Paris, in order to make a final call to a possible patron on the show Tout Le Sport. But Emmanuel Hubert, boss of the Arkéa-B&B Hotels team, was obliged to acknowledge the disappearance of his team, to his employees, on Wednesday October 15. This was the deadline to send the license file for next season to the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), which the Breton team was not able to do.

After the withdrawal of his two sponsors, Emmanuel Hubert tried everything to find buyers, in vain, and does not understand why no company was attracted to invest in his team, which had its two best seasons in 2024 and 2025.

Franceinfo:sport: The deadline for submitting applications for UCI licenses was October 15, you have not submitted anything, does this indicate the disappearance of your team?
Emmanuel Hubert: There were several acts. There was the sentence of October 2 where we could not provide the famous bank guarantees, which must correspond to 25% of the total annual payroll as a guarantee of security with the UCI. And then there is this October 15, where we had to provide the complete file, with the color of the jersey, all the contracts, and we did not complete that either. So second sentence and end of recess.

Is there any slight hope left since the UCI list is not completely set in stone?
There is very little hope. There is still a small glimmer of light. Now it's either a patron, an investor, or a name that wants to get involved in cycling. But here on the other hand, I'm not an actor, it's up to them to come to me.

You announced the end of the team to your riders and staff this morning, how did it go?
There is never a right way, it is never pleasant. You should know that 75% of the workforce is roaming, there are around twenty people in China at the moment, so it's complicated to bring everyone together. We have a common WhatsApp group. Unfortunately they suspected it, because we had not fulfilled the first condition on October 2, and between the two I had not communicated much, I had nothing to say, because I have nothing. And today I announce again that there is still nothing. So this is the cry from the heart, the appeal to a benefactor, to someone who loves cycling and who has a few tens of millions of euros to spend.

How did they react? Some runners have found a way out, but this is not the case for all and for members of the staff.
The runner is an actor, can influence his visibility and his results. At least he has the opportunity to do so. Afterwards, for all the people at the racing service in Rennes, it is much more complicated to be visible. There are professions like physiotherapists, doctors or osteologists who can relocate to practices or other teams, but for people like assistants, masseurs, mechanics, it becomes complicated to find a job. We are not in a sport where there are a lot of changes internally.

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You were very attached to the Breton identity of the team, but you said this summer that you were ready to put it aside to save the team. You had several leads, why didn't they come to fruition?
It's true that I love my region, but at some point, I'm not going to fall into idiocy. We told ourselves that if it was to save, we would save with anyone, within reason. But then, it didn't happen, because there is a shitty situation, excuse me for the word, with a lot of anxiety among business leaders. They don't necessarily know what bread they will be eaten with. And what do you delete first from a box? It's marketing. I think we were at the wrong time, in the wrong place.

Finally, when we see that your team – fourth in the Tour de France team rankings, seventh in the general ranking with Kévin Vauquelin, who has participated in all the Tours de France for years – is not capable of maintaining its position, what does that say about the economy of current cycling?
I don't think it's pretty, which is a shame. Fourth team in the Tour de France, that means what it means. I admit that I don't understand how we can't be in the seduction of a partner. Honestly, I don't understand. These results mean that we have a team with a soul, a know-how, we are not here by chance, it did not fall from the sky. We have real sympathy among the public and the media. And I believe that we are breaking this know-how. I respect the termination of my partners, we know when a contract ends, it is not them that I blame, but it is not normal that we cannot find others. And I think it's simply due to this shitty situation, which means that we are less bankable today.

This is not necessarily encouraging for other French teams like TotalEnergies, whose sponsor will stop at the end of 2026?
I remain optimistic by nature. The sentence on October 15, 2026 will not be the same as on October 15, 2025. I hope that our politicians will understand that we have to give a little greenery, to fight for France and not for them, like today where there are oversized egos. Companies will perhaps know a little more about where they are going.

Some team directors like Richard Plugge, from Visma-Lease a Bike, reacted with sadness to the disappearance of the team, have you received other support?
Yes, I get a lot of support. But we are also in a state of mind where if one team disappears, that leaves a place for the other. There has always been a rather serious lack of solidarity in our community. But whether from the authorities, the organizers, ASO, the president and the director of the Tour de France, I received a lot of support.

Was it not possible to leave with a team on a lower level?
So that, on the other hand, is not over. There is still a way to open the door to a lower level, in Continental (the third level of world cycling). The only thing is that there is much less visibility. It also costs money. It's another philosophy. It's a reboot. But hey, why not? On the other hand, this implies that there will be no development team, since our current development team is in Continental.