Pinault vows to explain blunder at B&B hotel before Paris-Nice.

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Pinault vows to explain blunder at B&B hotel before Paris-Nice.

Ever since the collapse of the B&B Hotels-KTM team came to attention, Jérôme Pinault has insisted on telling his side of the story, but he has remained silent.

Now he has suggested that he will explain everything within the next month after the collapse of the French team, which was investigated in detail by the French newspaper L'Equipe (opens in new tab) on Tuesday.

Pinault was interviewed by L'Equipe, but would only say that he could not say anything. Meanwhile, only six of the team's 22 players are under contract for 2023, and new signing Marc Cavendish, who was expected to join the team, has delayed his move to Astana Kazakstan.

"It's too soon, but I will. I will share my thoughts in a few weeks," he said.

"I hope to do so shortly before Paris-Nice starts. I have to. Certain things have to be reconstructed."

Paris-Nice will open on March 5.

An article in L'Equipe details Pinault's plans to grow his second division team by signing former French soccer league boss Didier Quillot and star riders like Mark Cavendish and creating a women's team and development team. It states.

Initially, there was talk of a 10 million euro sponsorship deal with the city of Paris, but this turned out to be politically and legally impossible and came to zero.

The Paris deal, on the other hand, angered officials in Brittany, who had supported the team since its inception. The region provided approximately €50,000 per year, but also took out a much larger loan of €900,000 to cover the UCI's bank guarantee when the team registered its license in 2022.

"It was important to link Brittany with this team. That is why we took on a loan of 900,000 euros, an obligatory guarantee to the UCI," Pierre Pouliken, vice president of the region, told L'Equipe, revealing that he had not been informed about the move to Paris.

"When I approached Pinault in May to remind him about the €900,000 loan, he said nothing.

Pinault then set about approaching a series of companies before the 2024 Olympics, even if without investment, as the French capital's involvement was part of the sales pitch.

While French newspapers in the summer mentioned a few names as potential sponsors, L'Equipe detailed a story of casting a wide net, contacting 115 companies. 40 meetings were reportedly booked, but genuine interest was almost non-existent.

Cosmetics company Sephora revealed that Pinault was demanding 15 million euros a year for five years. 'They said. . we didn't go after it."

The company's CEO, Mr. Pinault, said, "We didn't go after it.

Meanwhile, the team had signed riders like Cavendish, a 34-time Tour de France stage winner, whose jersey was made for a team presentation in Paris in late October but was canceled at the 11th hour.

The question remains, why did Pinault and his associates build a de facto structure without a foundation? He insisted that he was not the bad guy and fought hard for his team.

The team's management company has been liquidated, and the players, staff, and others are fighting to get what they can from the ruins of Pinault's hopes and ambitions.

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