French insurance firm Groupama has been named as a co-major sponsor of UCI WorldTour cycling team FDJ.
From 2018, the team will be known as Groupama-FDJ. The agreement will run until the end of the 2020 season.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed but French newspaper L'Équipe said Groupama would provide the same level of support as France national lottery company FDJ, allowing team manager Marc Madiot to increase his budget by 30 per cent.
Madiot said: “Corporate logos always have meaning. The two logos of Groupama and FDJ are established in the country and it is therefore logical that they come together on a sport like cycling. This gives the project scale.”
He added: “We have had a nice team for three years. The agreement in question comes at the right time. It was time for us, for the riders and the coaching staff. There is no question of regressing and this deal provides the means to allow us to grow at the sporting level. To strengthen the formation of our team. Until this season, we were able to make punctual and striking shots with Thibaut Pinot and Arnaud Démare but we did not necessarily have a strong bench. In football, the bench counts as much as the team.”
FDJ has backed the team since its formation in 1997 and will now give up lead title sponsor status for the first time.