A take a look at the workforce funds of the Ag2r Citroën workforce from 2022. It’s again within the days when the squad had brown shorts, Greg van Avermaet and extra however these are the newest set of printed accounts so a more in-depth look.
2022?
This was the ultimate season of the three 12 months promotion-relegation cycle however the workforce have been away from the relegation battle due to a robust 2021 season. The workforce scored simply 11 wins within the 12 months, arguably saved by Bob Jungels successful a Tour de France stage and Benoît Cosnefroy taking the GP Québec whereas Ben O’Connor acquired the workforce’s different World Tour win in Catalunya.
The workforce’s largest winner was Marc Sarreau with 4 wins in France. Greg Van Avermaet’s finest end result was a podium within the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The workforce signed 4 neo-pros and Felix Gall from DSM, a fantastic rent with hindsight. On the finish of the 12 months they unloaded Bob Jungels, Lilian Calmejane and Clément Champoussin.
Writing up the 2022 accounts feels as contemporary as a race assessment of Il Lombardia from the identical 12 months. However that’s they approach it goes: accounts are compiled after the 12 months ends, filed out of regulatory responsibility later, printed even later by the native courts in order that by the point a replica lands within the inbox it’s seems like an archive doc than contemporary information.
Le finances
The headline determine is 23,423,077 Euros.
The accounts present a lack of €776k which is each exceptional and irrelevant. Groups have a tendency to interrupt even so loss like that is uncommon but it surely’s all coated by the backers so no drawback and the accounts and the enterprise get a clear opinion from the auditors.
Yr-by-year
As one of many uncommon groups to persistently publish accounts we will observe the numbers yearly. 2022 noticed the finances basically steady for the 12 months, a small lower (for sticklers: the determine used for comparability over time is the online variety of €23.370 million which differs from the headline quantity cited above).
Now time to choose the bones contained in the accounts.
The wage invoice exhibits € 12.3 million in wage funds and an extra €3.8 million in payroll taxes on prime. As talked about earlier than right here, French payroll taxes are heavy. Right here 31% on prime, a invoice that groups in different jurisdictions don’t get. In fact their is a flipside, for instance Axel Laurence instructed L’Equipe the opposite day that transferring to Alpecin-Deceuninck has been nice however he was shocked by the admin and payments he’s now go to make social safety contributions for himself as his new workforce simply pays him a month-to-month quantity and the remaining is on him. It’s why worldwide comparisons of workforce budgets is a fraught job. Successfully Ag2r Citroën paid €16.1 million in an effort to get €12.1 million’s value of riders on the roles market.
Possession and administration modifications
One other factor that stands out is the change of possession. Crew boss Vincent Lavenu began out in workforce administration within the Nineteen Nineties and the authorized entity “France Cyclisme” began in 2002 however throughout 2022 this was offered to Ag2r La Mondiale. Or fairly to Ag2r and La Mondiale was whereas the sponsor trades below one model, its enterprise every purchased shares of the workforce, La Mondiale has 70% and Ag2r 30%. Lavenu is 68 12 months previous and so his time on the workforce might be nearer to the top than the start… or let’s put it bluntly he’s stated to be handing over quickly. Lavenu continues to be with the workforce at the moment in 2024.
He’s now supported by skilled managers Béatrice Willems and Dominique Serieys. Willems has been senior with insurer Ag2r La Mondiale, operating the chief govt’s workplace in Paris whereas Serieys has a sports activities administration background, having run the Paris Défense stadium and held roles in motorsport. With these modifications the workforce has gone from an EUSRL, a authorized entity for a small sports activities workforce to an SARL, an everyday entity in France for medium companies. It’s a concrete instance of groups altering from household companies to skilled outfits.
Dangerous money owed ongoing
If you happen to can learn the screengrab, and this 12 months’s accounts are hardly hi-res, the workforce’s accounts checklist €1.4 million of “créances doubteuses“, accounting jargon for dangerous money owed. Loyal readers will bear in mind there was a beef with Issue and a declare of unpaid funds lodged.
So the corporate switched late to Merckx bikes, provided by Belgian Biking Manufacturing unit – the agency additionally behind model Ridley – however once more this proved unsatisfactory with one other declare of lacking funds. In lieu of cost the workforce stored the workforce bikes fairly than return them and the 2022 accounts checklist inventory of 60 Eddy Merckx bikes, down from 85 the earlier 12 months. There are proven valued at their unique value of €206k (about €3.4k per bike) however presumably gathering mud and depreciating quick (the frames weren’t cherished by the riders, the elements a combo of Campagnolo, Mavic and Rotor). The debt provision and the inventory of Merckx bikes suggests each the Issue and Belgian Biking Manufacturing unit instances weren’t settled by the top of 2022 by which period the squad was on BMC bikes.
Citroën deal
This was the Citroën period. The accounts point out a €6.1 million sponsorship quantity and that the company which landed the deal can acquire as much as €1.3 million over the three years of the deal, however funds far complete €742k. €1.3 million for an company is a bumper payout but it surely’s 7% of €6.1m x 3 = €18.1 million. For groups attempting to find large manufacturers as sponsors it’s one thing any workforce would seize.
It’s a reminder that groups attempting to find exterior sponsors not solely have to search out and nurture them, they’ll additionally pay for them so there’s a gross quantity and a internet quantity, one thing groups backed by billionaires or nationwide governments don’t have.
HQ + workers
Elsewhere the workforce has taken out a a million Euro mortgage to renovate its HQ in La Motte-Servolex however has but to make large draw downs. It doesn’t personal the HQ, it leases it. As an apart Strava followers might guess Victor Lafay was going to hitch the workforce as a result of he made a number of rides from his dwelling within the Alps to the Ag2r service course final summer time.
Crew HQs are half office-space, half workshop, half parking zone and as of late have a full-time workers inside with logistics managers and extra. Certainly whereas we see the workforce because the riders, the 30 or so riders are solely a fraction of the 71 workers cited within the accounts, up by one on the earlier 12 months.
Conclusion
The accounts are for 2022 however they’re the newest accessible, official and fairly detailed. We get the headline finances quantity and a few element inside. The 12 months exhibits the same finances to the earlier season, the “Citroën impact” of the automaker giving the workforce an enormous monetary enter though this was blended for the output, it allowed them to rent Ben O’Connor and Bob Jungels who would each shine for the workforce but additionally Greg Van Avermaet and a Flemish cadre that didn’t.
Behind the scenes this was the 12 months Ag2r La Mondiale took possession of the workforce however this leaves extra questions now Decathlon are the lead sponsor and in 2024 and past the workforce finances will enhance. Previous bike sponsors induced complications with unpaid contributions and that’s one thing they’re unlikely to have with Decathlon.
The put up Ag2r Crew Funds first appeared on The Internal Ring.
