From NSN to CMA CGM to XRG: which sponsors are funding the 2026 WorldTour and what do they actually do?

Back in the summer, Domestique created two guides explaining the different sponsors of the Tour de France, and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, including the teams participating. 

This guide has been updated to include the new sponsors of men's WorldTour teams for the 2026 season.

What began in 2009 as a cyclocross-focused squad with a small road calendar has grown into a multi-discipline organisation. The team stepped up to ProConti level in 2019 and added a women’s squad in 2020, now racing as Fenix–Deceuninck.

Alpecin, part of Germany’s Dr. Wolff Gruppe, produces caffeine shampoos marketed to slow hair loss. The brand previously headlined Giant–Alpecin (now Team Picnic PostNL) and Katusha–Alpecin before joining  the setup in 2020.

In December 2025, Deceuninck, a major Belgian manufacturer of windows and doors, was replaced as second title sponsor by Premier Tech, a Canadian tech company with a wide portfolio of products from fertilisers and herbicides to automated systems for industry and agriculture to wastewater treatment. Premier Tech had previously been a title sponsor and co-owner of Astana-Premier Tech (now XDS Astana Team) in 2021 and a title sponsor of Israel-Premier Tech (now NSN Cycling Team) from 2022 to 2025.

The team rides Canyon bikes, supplied directly by the German brand since 2018.

The team was first launched for the 2017 season under the name Bahrain–Merida. A rebrand to Bahrain–McLaren followed for 2020, and since 2021 the team has raced as Bahrain Victorious.

For the 2026 season, the bike sponsorship changes hands from Merida to Bianchi, giving the squad a new equipment supplier.

Most of the team’s financial resources originate from the Bahraini state, either directly through the sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat or indirectly through state-controlled companies. These include Bapco Energy, the Economic Development Board with its “Business-friendly Bahrain” platform, Al Salam Bank, NBB (National Bank of Bahrain), telecommunications group Beyon, and the major aluminium producer Alba.

The French insurance company AG2R La Mondiale started sponsoring the team back in 1997 and was the title sponsor from 2000. Their team sponsorship ended after the 2025 season, and instead CMA CGM joins Decathlon as a title sponsor.

Owned by billionaire Rodolphe Saadé, CMA CGM is one of the world’s largest shipping companies. The group serves as football club Olympique Marseille’s short sponsor and Saadé recently denied persistent rumours that he was seeking the buy the club outright. Saadé’s CMA Media Group acquired broadcasters RMC Sport and BFM last year.

Decathlon, a French sporting goods retailer, had been title sponsor of the team for two years (2000 and 2001) before stepping down but returned for the 2024 season.

The team rides bikes and wears kit made by Van Rysel, a Decathlon store brand founded in 2019 (the name means “from Lille” in Flemish; Lille is where Decathlon opened its first store in 1976), and French fashion brand Armand Thiery is an ‘official partner’ of the team.

Founded by Jonathan Vaughters in 2003 as a development programme, the operation has evolved through multiple mergers and identity changes before finding long-term backing from EF Education First in 2018. 

EF not only became the primary sponsor but also purchased the management company, renaming Slipstream Sports to EF Pro Cycling. Although founded in Sweden, EF today operates out of Switzerland and specialises in immersive language education, cultural exchanges and learning-abroad programmes.

EasyPost, an American company providing a sophisticated shipping API, joined as co-title sponsor in 2022.

Since 2015, the team has ridden Cannondale bikes. Cannondale, once owned by Canadian group Dorel, has belonged to Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings since 2022.

EF Education also returned to women’s cycling in 2024 after the earlier EF Education–TIBCO–SVB project ended. The renewed women's squad competes as EF Education–Oatly, with Swedish company Oatly, a manufacturer of dairy alternatives, serving as a prominent co-sponsor.

This team has been backed by La Française des Jeux since its founding in 1997. Known simply as FDJ since 2010, the company runs the French national lottery and online gaming services. 

After its 2018 privatisation, FDJ expanded abroad, acquiring the Irish national lottery in 2023 and later the Kindred Group, including the Unibet brand. In March 2025, the company adopted the new name FDJ United. The consequences of this acquisition for both this team and ProTeam Unibet Rose Rockets remain to be seen: Under UCI rules, two teams with the same main partners are not allowed to race against each other, but the teams were frequently in the same races – apparently the UCI takes the line that since Unibet is ‘only’ a subsidiary of FDJ United, the two teams do not literally have the same main partners.

Groupama, a major French mutual insurance group, joined in 2018 and holds top billing in the team name.

INEOS purchased the team in 2019, integrating it into the INEOS Sports portfolio, which spans football clubs such as OGC Nice and FC Lausanne-Sport, a minority share in Manchester United, and stakes in motorsport operations. INEOS founder Jim Ratcliffe, formerly the UK’s richest individual, relocated to Monaco for tax purposes.

The Grenadiers name, adopted in 2020, was introduced to promote INEOS’ Grenadier off-road vehicle, drawing on British military heritage.

In June 2025, French energy giant TotalEnergies joined as a major jersey sponsor. By introducing the partnership without altering the team’s name, INEOS Grenadiers avoided breaching UCI rules that prevent teams with the same main partner or paying agent from racing against each other. 

The team’s origins trace back to 2011, beginning as Leopard Trek. Over the years, it took on various names including RadioShack–Nissan–Trek, RadioShack–Leopard and later Trek Factory Racing. Segafredo joined as title sponsor from 2016 until mid-2023.

German discount supermarket chain Lidl became co-title sponsor before the 2023 Tour de France. Lidl operates in thirty European countries plus the United States and is part of the Schwarz Group, which also owns hypermarket chain Kaufland. The company’s reputation was previously marred by labour-rights controversies but has since improved staffing conditions and employee benefits.

Ahead of the 2026 season, Lidl has moved beyond title sponsorship to take majority ownership of Lidl–Trek, also moving the team’s registration to Germany. Trek remains a co-owner, while Lidl’s increased investment has already been reflected in high-profile signings such as Juan Ayuso and Derek Gee-West as well as plans for a new performance centre supported by Schwarz Digits (also part of the Schwarz Group).

One of cycling’s longest-running sponsorship arrangements, the partnership between this team and the Belgian National Lottery dates back to 1985. 

The team merged with Intermarché-Wanty in the run-up to the 2026 season, and  Intermarché, a major brand of the French retail cooperative Les Mousquetaires, joined as second title sponsor.

The team will ride Orbea bikes in 2026.

The team’s lineage stretches back to 1980, making it one of the oldest continuously operating squads in professional cycling. Movistar, the telecommunications brand of Telefónica, has served as title sponsor since 2011. Telefónica’s global brands, such as O2 in Europe and Vivo in Brazil, also appear across the team’s kit. The team uses Canyon bikes and helmets from German brand ABUS, and the kit is manufactured by Spanish company Gobik.

 A women’s formation was added for the 2018 season and has been part of the structure ever since.

The team’s title partner NSN (short for Never Say Never) is a sports company founded in 2018 by a.o. former FC Barcelona midfielder Andreas Iniesta. They organised friendly football matches and acquired Danish second-division football club FC Helsingør in late 2024 in cooperation with Swiss investment platform Stoneweg. NSN and Stoneweg (who were already a minor partner of the team) worked together again to acquire the licence of what was Israel-Premier Tech and rename the team ahead of the 2026 season.

Founded as the Cycling Academy Team on the Continental level for 2015, the team moved up to ProConti status in 2017, and the new co-owner, Canadian-Israeli billionaire entrepreneur Sylvan Adams, added Israel to the team’s name from that year forward. Acquiring the licence of the folding Katusha-Alpecin outfit, the team stepped up to the WorldTour from 2020. Premier Tech joined as title sponsor in 2022.

Despite having no connection to the Israeli government, the team faced criticism at the Tour de France due to Israel’s continuing military campaign in Gaza, and intense protests at the Vuelta caused several stages to be neutralised. In the aftermath, Adams agreed to end his day-to-day involvement, the licence was sold to NSN, and the registration moved from Israel to Switzerland while the home base will continue to be in Spain.

The team rides Scott bikes.

The project now known as Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe has undergone several important transformations since entering the WorldTour.

BORA, a German manufacturer best known for its cooktop extraction systems and premium kitchen appliances, became title sponsor in 2015 as the team began its ascent. 

Hansgrohe, another major German industrial brand specialising in bathroom and sanitary fixtures, joined in 2017.

In 2024, Red Bull joined as part-owner of the team’s management company, until then solely owned by Ralph Denk, and new title sponsor. Founded in the 1980s and marketed as ‘the’ energy drink despite containing similar amounts of sugar as other soft drinks and unproven claims of increasing mental or physical performance, Red Bull has consciously used its sports marketing as a sponsor or owner of teams in Formula 1, football, ice hockey, and various extreme sports to spread brand awareness.

Quick·Step Floors has been synonymous with professional cycling since 1999, and the company has anchored this team’s identity since it launched in 2003. A subsidiary of Mohawk Industries, Quick·Step produces high quality flooring solutions including laminate, vinyl and hardwood surfaces and has consistently viewed cycling as a core branding platform.

Soudal entered the picture in 2023 as co-title sponsor after many years backing the Lotto team. The Belgian company specialises in sealants, adhesives and expanding foams for construction, industrial applications and home projects. 

The team was established in 2012 with substantial backing from Australian businessman Gerry Ryan, whose companies have regularly appeared on the jersey. Ryan founded Jayco Australia in 1975 after a study trip to the United States, and the recreational vehicle manufacturer is now one of the team’s title sponsors. 

Over the years, the team has competed under multiple sponsorship identities, but Ryan’s involvement has been a constant thread.

AlUla joined as the second title sponsor for 2023, spotlighting a culturally rich oasis region in northwestern Saudi Arabia that has been inhabited for millennia and is now a UNESCO World Heritage. Chaired by Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, The Royal Commission for AlUla oversees the development and promotion of the area, including through the early-season stage race AlUla Tour.

Since his appointment as crown prince in 2017, ‘MBS’ has led a series of societal reforms that aimed to push back the ultra-conservative Wahhabi religious establishment and gradually modernising the country, but also purged competing Saudi elites, many of them other members of the large Saudi royal family, and ordered the assassination and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Originally founded for the 1999 season, the team has existed in its current guise since 2005, with Iwan Spekenbrink as general manager since 2008. A women’s team was added for 2011. DSM joined as title sponsor for the 2021 campaign, and one year later PostNL became part of the naming partnership.

In 2025, online supermarket Picnic stepped into the title role. Founded in the Netherlands in 2015, the company expanded rapidly across Germany and France with its app-driven grocery delivery model. Despite no longer appearing in the team’s name, dsm-firmenich remains a prominent brand on the jersey, reflecting its long term involvement.

PostNL’s heritage traces back to KPN’s former state postal service, which later transitioned to TNT, TNT Express and eventually PostNL after multiple reorganisations.

Visma, the Norwegian software company, and Lease a Bike, a bicycle leasing service owned by Pon Holdings, headline this team’s name. Both brands operate primarily in business-to-business markets, aligning well with cycling’s corporate hospitality ecosystem, where sponsors engage clients at races throughout the calendar.

Before the 2025 Tour de France, Rabobank rejoined the setup as a co-sponsor after more than a decade away from title-level involvement in men’s cycling. Jumbo continues to provide support despite no longer anchoring the name. Alongside them are Škoda and the component maker SRAM, while Bygma, a Danish retailer of building materials, sponsors Jonas Vingegaard’s distinctive helmet.

The organisation also launched a women’s team in 2021, built largely around the signing of Marianne Vos and intended to mirror the men’s squad in terms of professionalism and ambition. They won the 2025 Tour de France Femmes with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot

The modern iteration of the team began in early 2017 when Abu Dhabi intervened to save the former Lampre–Merida structure after a Chinese sponsorship collapsed unexpectedly. Shortly afterwards, Dubai-based airline Emirates joined as co-title sponsor.

From 2025, XRG joined as title sponsor. It was only founded in late 2024 by ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) as an energy investment company.

The team races on Colnago bikes. The Italian bike brand is controlled by Abu Dhabi’s Royal Group, overseen by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (a brother of the emir of Abu Dhabi), through Chimera Investment. The team’s helmets featuring AI generated designs are produced in collaboration with G42, another company chaired by Sheikh Tahnoun. The squad wears Pissei kit, and stars like Tadej Pogačar often appear with watches supplied by Richard Mille.

Uno-X Mobility entered professional cycling in 2017 and remains a distinctly Scandinavian project. The team is owned by Uno-X, a network of automated fuel and charging stations operating across Norway and Denmark. True to this identity, all riders in the men’s team come from those two nations. A women’s programme launched in 2022, joining the UCI Women’s WorldTour immediately.

Uno-X is fully owned by Reitan AS, a Norwegian retailing conglomerate owned by the Reitan family. Other Reitan-owned brands such as Rema 1000 and 7-Eleven appear prominently on the team kit. During the 2025 Tour, the company built a humorous advertising campaign around Magnus Cort, using the phrase “betal med Cort”, a pun on “pay by card”, to highlight his popularity.

The Astana project has long been tied to the Kazakh state, with the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna coordinating support since 2008. Over the years, the team has showcased the logos of various state-run companies, including KazMunayGaz, Air Astana, Astana Motors, national railway company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy and ERG (Eurasian Resources Group). From 2022 to 2024, the squad raced as Astana Qazaqstan Team to spread awareness of the country’s Kazakh name over the Russian-derived Kazakhstan.

For the 2025 season, Chinese manufacturer XDS, also known as Xidesheng, became co-title sponsor. In addition to producing bicycles, XDS manufactures a wide range of carbon fibre products and now equips the team with its X-Lab racing series bikes.