Starting January 1, 2022, Decathlon will return to the professional cycling circuit with the UCI World Tour Cofidis cycling team as the official supplier of performance cycling apparel and activewear for the Cofidis men, women and para-cycling teams.
Both Decathlon and the Cofidis cycling teams are based in Lille, France in the heart of Flanders, a region known for its iconic races.
“This partnership helps us to be in constant contact with the most demanding cyclists. All this allows us to continuously improve the technicality of our equipment by providing cyclists with products benefiting from the latest technologies as well as to our customers,” said Guillaume Pichot, textile product manager, Decathlon’s cycling brand Van Rysel.
Over the past six months, the Van Rysel team has designed and prototyped the textiles that will support the team at Decathlon’s cycling headquarters, BTWIN Village in Lille, France.
Pierron Nicolas, leader, Van Rysel, said, “It is with great pride that we come back to the highest level [in cycling] with the Cofidis team, 17 years after our last partnership. We want to build a powerful local project with significant research and development resources to allow the Cofidis team and its riders to benefit from state-of-the-art products.”
Vasseur Cedric, general manager, Cofidis cycling team, said, “We are very happy with this new partnership. All the riders and staff are ready to mobilize alongside the brand, which has the will to be a major player in its market. This collaboration makes all the more sense since we are two French companies from the same Hauts de France region and we share in making our colors shine globally. This geographic proximity is a major asset of this new partnership and will help bring our two entities closer together. Van Rysel has a strong ability to develop and design the best products to allow them to shine in the most prestigious competitions on the calendar. It is, therefore, a winning partnership on all fronts that will contribute to the expansion and future success of the Cofidis team.”
Photo courtesy Cofidis Cycling Team
