The Decathlon cycling team will have CMA CGM as its title partner from January 1, 2026

As the Tour de France peloton enjoys a well-deserved day of rest in Montpellier on Monday, July 21, the Decathlon cycling team has revealed the identity of its next title partner for at least the next five seasons: the transport and media specialist CMA CGM. "As of January ¹ ," the team will therefore take the name "Decathlon CMA CGM," the two parties stated in a joint press release, welcoming the alliance between " two major French family businesses with a strong international presence." This announcement comes two weeks after the withdrawal at the end of the year of AG2R La Mondiale, which has supported the team for twenty-eight years, as its second sponsor.

CMA CGM, headquartered in Marseille, is the world's third-largest container shipowner, present in 177 countries and employing 160,000 people, including 20,000 in France. It is also the third-largest private media group in the country (RMC-BFM, La Tribune dimanche , La Tribune , La Provence , Corse-Matin , etc.).

The latter is seeking to establish itself more and more in the world of sport. A jersey sponsor of the Olympique de Marseille football club, the shipping company was the official logistics solution partner for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Its subsidiary, CEVA Logistics, in the world's top 5, is a partner of Scuderia Ferrari in Formula 1. Quoted in the press release, the CEO of the CMA CGM group, billionaire Rodolphe Saadé, expressed his "ambition" to contribute to bringing " a high-level team to the top" .

The group's contribution to the budget of the cycling training program based in Chambéry has not been revealed, but Céline Del Genes, head of customer relations at Decathlon, announced two weeks ago that the budget, which is 28 million euros this season, would rise "above 40 million by 2026."

In the future, the team plans to compete with giants such as UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike, whose budgets are around €50 million. "Our goal is to enter the top five, then the top three in the world and to win the Tour de France by 2030," says its boss, Dominique Serieys, former director of Mitsubishi Motor Sports and the Paris-Défense Arena. He is banking in particular on the French talent Paul Seixas, 18 years old.