Mark Cavendish's new team... (maybe)

The big news out of France is B&B Hotels – KTM could be Mark Cavendish's new team...

We say 'could' because just as the whispers spread through the media a spokesperson for the team denied the report and instead said all would be revealed at the team's official presentation on October 26th.

> "I've got a big year next year": Mark Cavendish hints at new team for 2023

I guess we'll know for certain in nine days' time, but the word from Ouest France appeared fairly strong, the French news outlet reporting the Manx Missile has agreed a one-year deal at the UCI ProTeam run by former pro racer Jérôme Pineau.

At the end of August, Pineau was upfront about his team's interest in Cav, calling the negotiations "quite complicated" but that there was a "50-50" chance.

In response to the Ouest France report, B&B Hotels – KTM told VeloNews: "We will make no comment on what came out today in Ouest-France, except denying all this information. We will unveil every detail about the team's future on October 26th."

So, what do we reckon? Deal off or building the expectation ahead of the big reveal next Wednesday?

Interestingly, Cavendish reportedly enlisted Sports Entertainment Group (SEG), a talent management agency, to find him a new team after it became apparent Patrick Lefevere was not going to offer him a new deal at Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl.

> "I know I'll win again": Mark Cavendish confident of 35th Tour de France stage win

Even more interestingly, three of SEG's riders — Nick Shultz, Cees Bol and Brit Stephen Williams — are supposedly joining the French team next year, while they're also linked with lead-out men Maximiliano Richeze and Ramon Sinkeldam. It seems someone's building a lead-out train — but who for?

The noise from the Netherlands is that Amazon France will be stepping in to help fund the project next year, with the team's name yet to be decided. Plenty of questions remain to be answered on October 26 in Paris. Oh, and did we mention the Tour de France route is revealed the day after? Yep, you guessed it... in Paris.