Ag2r Citroën Team to ride BMC bikes from 2021

Ag2r La Mondiale will ride BMC bikes from the 2021 season, when the team will switch names to Ag2r Citroën Team. The new bike partnership deal will run for three years until the end of the 2023 season.

The French squad currently ride Eddy Merckx bikes, which they began using from the start of the 2019 season. But with a new name, thanks to a sponsorship deal with car manufacturer Citroën, and a squad overhaul comes a new bike partner as well.

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The team look to be building a squad to target the spring Classics in 2021, with their Grand Tour climbers Romain Bardet and Pierre Latour moving on and the likes of Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) and Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) coming in to join their current Classics leader Oliver Naesen.

They'll be riding Swiss brand BMC's top line of bikes; the BMC Teammachine SLR01 as their all-round and climbing machine, the Timemachine Road 01 as their aero bike for flat races, and the Timemachine as their time trial bike. The team hasn't confirmed which groupset or wheels they'll ride next season though, with the riders currently using Shimano and Rotor components along with Mavic wheels.

Greg Van Avermaet and Michael Schär, who both join from CCC for next season, will both be very familiar with BMC's bikes having ridden on them for a number of years when they were part of the BMC Racing Team. BMC pulled its sponsorship of the team at the end of 2018, with CCC taking over as lead sponsor. With CCC set to pull its sponsorship at the end of 2020, it's unclear what the future holds for that team.

Likewise the future of the NTT Pro Cycling squad is also not confirmed. BMC is currently the bike partner of the team, having signed a three-year deal with the then Dimension Data squad from the start of 2019. With that deal set to run to the end of 2021, it looks as though BMC could potentially have a presence in two WorldTour teams in 2021 if NTT continues.

“We are happy to welcome BMC as our bicycle partner," Ag2r team boss Vincent Lavenu said. "This internationally renowned Swiss brand has extensive experience in the professional peloton and offers very high-end bikes. As it is a brand located close to our headquarters and shares our same high values, we are convinced that BMC will be an excellent partner in our efforts to achieve our sporting ambitions. Their commitment to our team for a period of three years is a great mark of confidence. We look forward to integrating BMC into this new chapter of the Ag2r Citroën Team.”