Arkéa-Samsic & Bianchi, a multi-year partnership

Warren Barguil’s French team Arkéa-Samsic will join the World Tour in 2023. For the occasion, the riders will be equipped by the Italian brand Bianchi, which is returning to the highest level of cycling after a year off in 2022. The partnership has been announced for several seasons.

The Arkéa Samsic team riders will be equipped with Bianchi Specialissima (for climbing), Aquila (for time trials) and especially Oltre RC, the new versatile and aerodynamic model launched by the Italian brand a few weeks ago. A bike that should not be used in competition with its famous F1-inspired air deflectors, as these are normally prohibited in official UCI competitions.

Bianchi Unveils the New Specialissima

Nevertheless, Théo Ouvrard, Arkéa-Samsic’s Sports Manager, highlights the qualities of this bike to help the team take another step forward in 2023: “The Bianchi Oltre RC is one of the best aero bikes in the world, according to studies carried out on this model. This bike could therefore allow us to take an additional step forward. The Oltre RC is very fast on the flats, while remaining very versatile for hilly classics, for example.”

On the team’s website, Emmanuel Hubert, Arkéa-Samsic’s General Manager, shares his feelings: “I am delighted to associate the Arkéa-Samsic team with such a famous cycling brand as Bianchi, known and recognized by all enthusiasts, which has managed to preserve the strength of its heritage, while giving pride of place to innovation. Bianchi has written the history of our sport in golden letters with riders whose notoriety has made its strength. I myself had the chance to race professionally on bikes from this Italian brand which was, and still is today, one of the jewels of the cycling industry, embodying what can be called Italian haute-couture in bikes. By associating with the Arkéa-Samsic team, Bianchi is making its big comeback in the professional world, and what’s more, at UCI WorldTour level. Bianchi also wishes to develop and promote its “high performance” products alongside us, such as its brand new Oltre RC, by working in close collaboration with our performance unit to continue to develop its bikes and then make them available to all its prospects. From the alliance between Arkéa-Samsic’s “Breton will” and Bianchi’s “Italian excellence” will be born this common desire: to achieve numerous successes in order to highlight both our riders and the Bianchi brand, whose history is already rich and deeply rooted. And new pages will be written in the present with Arkéa-Samsic. (…)”

Fabrizio Scalzotto, CEO of Bianchi, confirms the validity of this future collaboration, also on the team’s website: “The Arkéa-Samsic team has shown constant progress over the last few years, achieving its objectives. Their robust structure and international approach are two factors that we consider decisive, and we wish to contribute, in the coming years, to the pursuit of new objectives while being well represented within the UCI World Tour.”

=> SEE ALSO: All our Mag articles