Arcueil (France) (AFP) – Known as TotalEnergies, Jean-René Bernaudeau's Vendée cycling team, once threatened with disappearance, will be called XEFI from 2027 and is leaving for three new seasons in the professional peloton, she announced on Tuesday.

Published on: 10/11/2026 - 1:58 p.m.

French IT group, XEFI becomes the new title sponsor of this historic French cycling team, created in 2000 under the name Bonjour, before being called Brioches La Boulangère, Bouygues Télécom, Europcar, Direct Energies...

It was threatened with going out of business with the withdrawal of TotalEnergies at the end of this season, as was the case for two other French structures recently, B&B Hotels in 2022 and Arkéa-B&B Hotels last year.

“We are all aware, in view of the teams which have disappeared in recent years, of having achieved an exploit,” commented general manager Stéphane Heulot during a press conference held in Arcueil (Val-de-Marne).

The team's budget was not revealed by its leaders nor by Sacha Rosenthal, founding president of the XEFI group. Stéphane Heulot simply assured that it would be “consistent and sufficient to achieve (his) objectives”.

The XEFI group is already established in the world of cycling at the amateur level since it supports the Vélo Club Villefranche Beaujolais.

“It’s a popular sport, it had its low points, but today, it is still very popular,” said Sacha Rosenthal. “We have to bring it as deeply as possible wherever we are present. It speaks to everyone.”

Many departures

As he had already done in the past, Jean-René Bernaudeau, 70 years old, managed at the last minute to ensure the survival of the Vendée team and return to ProTeam, the second division, with the hope of continuing to participate in the Tour de France.

"An obvious fact", according to Stéphane Heulot: "The Tour is the highlight. The team has never disappointed in the Tour de France. We are awaiting certain decisions from the UCI in relation to licenses which are in doubt even if we do not wish the misfortune of the opponents."

Announcing a new title sponsor as late as November is extremely rare in cycling.

While its future was up in the air, the team lost almost all of its best riders who signed up elsewhere, such as Jordan Jegat, tenth in the last two editions of the Tour de France, Anthony Turgis, Mathieu Burgaudeau and Emilien Jeannière.

The recent announcement of the arrival of the Chinese equipment manufacturer Pardus, little known to the general public, was the first good news for the team which will have a squad of 25 riders, including several young people from Vendée U - the team's training center.

“Cube (previous equipment manufacturer, Editor's note) wanted an answer quickly to know what the future of the team would be, we did not have that answer to give them, explained Stéphane Heulot. I was able to go to China to visit the company and the manufacturing site. We are very close to the very high level standards.

On the other hand, the general manager has no illusions regarding possible recruits: “We are very late to the market.”

“There will indeed be youth, experience, a solid playing background, he added. (...) It will be more international than this year. It is a sporting choice and which also meets the expectations of our partner.”

Another new feature for the 2027 season: Tony Gallopin, a former recognized rider in the peloton, becomes sports director within the team.

© 2026 AFP

The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.