B&B Hotels–KTM
B&B Hotels–KTM was a French UCI ProSeries road cycling team that formed for the 2018 season as Vital Concept Cycling Team. It was first presented at a press conference on 17 August 2017, with an initial budget of €6 million, by its manager Jérôme Pineau. At this press conference fifteen riders were presented, with Bryan Coquard as leader, with another five riders were announced at a later date. The team sponsors the Vélo Club Pays de Loudéac and their headquarters are based in Theix. On 6 January 2018 the team missed out on a wildcard to that year's Tour de France, but were awarded a place in the Critérium du Dauphiné.
| Team information | |
|---|---|
| UCI code |
|
| Registered | France |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Disbanded | 2022 |
| Discipline(s) | Road |
| Status | UCI ProTeam |
| Bicycles | Orbea (until 2019) KTM (2020-2022) |
| Key personnel | |
| General manager | Jérôme Pineau |
| Team manager(s) | Didier Rous Gilles Pauchard Jimmy Engoulvent Yvonnick Bolgiani |
| Team name history | |
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 | Vital Concept Vital Concept–B&B Hotels B&B Hotels–Vital Concept B&B Hotels p/b KTM B&B Hotels–KTM |
The team secured further sponsorship from the Brittany-based hotel chain B&B Hotels and re-branded as Vital Concept–B&B Hotels for the 2019 season. In 2020, the team became B&B Hotels–Vital Concept, as B&B Hotels became the principal sponsor of the team. The team would change identity again in 2021, becoming B&B Hotels p/b (powered by) KTM, and restyled this as B&B Hotels–KTM for 2022.
The team had big plans for 2023, with the expectation of an invitation to the Tour de France and the announcement that Mark Cavendish would join in search of his record-breaking 35th stage victory with support from fellow new signings Cees Bol and Stephen Williams. However, the team ran into financial difficulty due to a shortfall in sponsorship revenue and collapsed in December 2022.