On the 2025 Tour de France, the invisible race for UCI points that obsesses certain teams

For Arkéa B & B Hotels, this 2025 Tour de France has the air of an enchanted interlude. The Breton team has not yet won a stage, its stated objective before the start of the Tour de France, but its visibility has exploded thanks to Kévin Vauquelin, 5th in the general classification before the start of the 15th stage, Muret (Haute-Garonne)-Carcassone (Aude), Sunday, July 20. However, the euphoria generated by the Normandy team's performances cannot obscure the more worrying context in which the team finds itself.

Its two sponsors have announced the end of their partnership at the end of the current season, and Emmanuel Hubert, manager of Arkéa B & B Hotels, has been struggling for several weeks to find new sponsors to ensure the team's long-term future. In the negotiations, the manager is starting with a handicap: he is unable to guarantee that the team will remain among the elite of world cycling from 2026. "Being in the WorldTour [the top division] definitely helps," he confides.

The Breton team is currently facing relegation to the ProTeam level. At the end of 2025 and a three-season cycle – a system established by the International Cycling Union (UCI) in 2020 – eighteen teams will retain WorldTour status. Currently 21st in the rankings, Arkéa B & B Hotels will have to fight to catch up with Intermarché-Wanty (16th), XDS-Astana (17th), Picnic-PostNL (18th), Cofidis (19th), and Uno-X Mobility (20th).

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