Lapierre, one in every of France’s largest bike manufacturers, are to make a return to skilled biking’s high stage subsequent 12 months to turn into Picinic PostNL’s new bike companion.
The crew, previously generally known as dsm-firmenich PostNL, had been believed to have a contract with Scott for 2025, however Lapierre are current on the entrance of the crew’s new jersey, and the brand new partnership was introduced on Thursda.
Sources had beforehand stated that a number of workers members on the Dutch crew’s base had been overtly discussing that Lapierre will be part of the crew subsequent 12 months as bike companion.
The squad introduced their new identify on Thursday, together with a brand new package, with that Lapierre emblem. Riders will use the model new Xelius DRS efficiency bike for all street occasions, and the Aerostorm DRS for time trials, in a deal that lasts 4 years.
The swap to Lapierre comes even if new Scott Addict bikes had arrived on the crew’s service course within the Netherlands, with as much as 15 bikes stated to have then been constructed for riders like Romain Bardet and Warren Barguil. CW noticed pictures of the brand new Addict being constructed, though it’s understood that the bikes weren’t then shipped out to riders forward of the brand new season.
It’s the first time Scott haven’t been current on the WorldTour since 2011, with the bike model partnered with the assorted GreenEDGE squads between 2012 and 2020. Scott equipped bikes to dsm-firmenich PostNL for the final 4 seasons.
A spokesperson for the Accell Group, the mother or father firm of Lapierre, didn’t deny the hyperlink to dsm-firmenich PostNL when contacted by Biking Weekly final month. The agency’s COO Jonas Nillson was additionally reported to have been within the Netherlands not too long ago for conferences.
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On Thursday, Accell’s CEO, Tjeerd Jegen, stated: “We’re assured that this partnership will result in extraordinary success each on and off the street, advancing our model within the aggressive world {of professional} biking and galvanizing cyclists in every single place. That is how we transfer the corporate ahead and convey nice innovation to life. We look ahead to reaching new milestones collectively.”
Picnic PostNL’s CEO Iwan Spekenbrink: “We’re delighted to companion with Accell and Lapierre and are impressed by their latest improvement to turn into future proof in what has been a difficult biking manufacturing trade for the final years.
“We share a mindset concerning our commitments to expertise, innovation and efficiency. Our R&D specialists are trying ahead to working intently with their engineering and technical specialists to combine enter and suggestions within the improvement of the following technology of our street bikes, which we’ll already see out on the street mid-next 12 months.”
Lapierre by no means shied away from their want to make a comeback by partnering with a serious crew after the model’s long-standing partnership with Groupama-FDJ led to 2023. The 2 French outfits had collaborated for 22 years, though that got here to an finish when Groupama moved to Willier Triestina within the leadup to the 2024 season. Nonetheless, this transfer has seemingly come out of the blue.
In keeping with Wielerflits final month, Lapierre’s transfer to companion with the Dutch crew was partially because of the model wishing to do away with surplus inventory.
