Look and Fortuneo-Samsic abruptly end their partnership ahead of Tour de France

It’s strange timing just before the Tour de France, but Look Cycles and Pro Continental team Fortuneo-Samsic have dissolved their partnership with immediate effect. It’s after Look’s four years plus of sponsorship of the team, based in Brittany, under its various names.

Fortuneo-Samsic has a wildcard for the Tour de France, starting on July 7. Last year, while riding for Sunweb, Fortuneo-Samsic’s star climber Warren Barguil had a dream Tour, winning two stages and the polka dot jersey.

According to a joint press release from Federico Musi, president of Look Cycle and Emmanuel Hubert, manager of Fortuneo-Samsic: “It has been a fruitful collaboration, grounded on a shared vision and passion to support and promote the best of French pro-cycling and of French manufacturing, Fortuneo-Samsic and Look Cycle both share ambitions for growth. We both wish each other good luck, starting from the upcoming Tour de France.”

“We will continue to engage with our fans and bring our products and brand closer to them in new, modern and more effective ways,“ continues Musi.

It’s not clear whether Look has another team up its sleeve, but with its history of sponsoring professional cycling, including Greg LeMond’s Tour de France win in 1986, it would be surprising if the brand abandoned racing. And it's recently partnered with SRM to launch the Exakt pedal-based power meter, which promises its users accurate power readings and loads of stats on their performance.

Likewise, it’s not known whose bikes Fortuneo-Samsic will be riding when they line up at the Tour’s Grand Départ in less than two weeks’ time.