According to Cyclingnews, UAE Team Emirates will switch its groupset from Campagnolo to Shimano in 2023, and Jumbo Visma will end its long-term relationship with Shimano as part of the many changes in the 2023 World Tour peloton, with SRAM components to be used.
Taddei Pogacar won the Tour de France on a Colnago bike fitted with Campagnolo components, giving the team 47 wins in 2022, including Pogacar's recent victory on Il Lombardia.
However, as the new WorldTour cycle began and Pogacar, who finished second behind Jonas Vingegaard, once again targeted the Tour de France, the team decided to switch to Shimano for the 2023 season.
According to Cyclingnews, UAE Team Emirates will not initially be a fully Shimano-sponsored team, with riders maintaining their personal shoe sponsorship and the team opting for Colnago Bikes wheels and other component brands.
When contacted by Cycling News, UAE Team Emirates said that there was no official news on components and that details had not yet been finalized. Shimano and Campagnolo also declined to comment to Cycling News.
"We are aware that there are currently rumors circulating about a partnership between Campagnolo and UAE Team Emirates. We have nothing to announce at this time," a Campagnolo statement said.
While Shimano has struggled to supply teams with the latest components due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global supply chain, UAE Team Emirates is expected to soon receive a large supply of Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 12-speed groupset The UAE Team Emirates is expected to soon receive a large supply of Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 12-speed groupset, allowing the team mechanics to begin preparing their bikes for the 2023 season.
Shimano will supply 13 of the 18 WorldTour teams in 2023, sponsoring six of them: Ineos Grenadiers, Groupama-FDJ, Soudal-QuickStep, Bora-Hansgrohe, Team DSM, and Alpecin-Deceuninck.
SRAM is expected to sponsor the Trek-Segafredo and Movistar teams in 2022 and continue its connection with the Trek and Canyon bicycle brands, while Campagnolo is expected to join AG2R Citroen, Cofidis, and UAE Emirates in 2022 in partnerships.
Teams have various levels of agreements with component brands, often linked to broader agreements with bike and frame brands. Many teams retain freedom of choice and either purchase key components or have simple product supply agreements. For example, EF Education-EasyPost procures its own components to be paired with Cannondale bikes and FSA cranksets.
The Jumbo Visma team has a long-term relationship with Shimano Europe, and both are based in the Netherlands. However, Jonas Vingegaard, Wout Van Aert, and Marianne Foss plan to switch to SRAM components in 2023 as part of a major equipment change.
Weilerflits reports that SRAM has offered Jumbo-Visma a significant increase to take over Shimano's component sponsorship.
Shimano did not participate in the bidding war and invested elsewhere, including in UAE Team Emirates.
Jumbo-Visma is expected to continue using Lazer helmets despite the fact that they are now owned by Shimano, allowing riders to switch to other shoe brands.
SRAM did not respond to Cyclingnews inquiries about Jumbo-Visma's use of their components in 2023.
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