French newspaper Ouest France reported on Monday that "barring changes of circumstances" Mark Cavendish has reached a provisional agreement with the B&B Hotels-KTM squad for a one-year deal for 2023 with a further 12-month option,
The French team, however, has told Cyclingnews they "denied all these informations" and that it would be making no further comment at this time.
With reports of the team’s interest in the Briton dating back to mid-July, such a deal would mean Cavendish, 37, could battle for a record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage in 2023 and then continue through 2024 if he failed to win next summer.
At the same time, Dutch specialist website Wielerflits claimed that Amazon France will be coming in as a new sponsor for the French ProTeam, rather than Carrefour, as had been rumoured.
The Briton is leaving QuickStep-AlphaVinyl at the end of this year after not taking part in the Tour de France this July, but his options for 2023 have yet to fully emerge.
In August B&B Hotels-KTM team boss Jérôme Pineau said that the chances of the Manxman joining the team were currently "50-50".
This weekend, Cavendish dropped a large hint that something had been decided regarding his future via social media, saying on Instagram that "It's the off-season, I've finished racing."
"But I don't want to put the bike away too quickly because I've got a big year next year."
According to the same report in Ouest France, other signings for 2023 include Ramon Sinkeldam (Groupama-FDJ), Nick Schultz (Bike Exchange), Cees Bol (DSM) as well as the neo-pro Florian Dauphin as well as experienced leadout man Maximiliano Richeze (UAE).
B&B Hotels-KTM is expected to heighten its profile considerably in 2023, with the French capital, Paris, set to become an important new player in cycling by lending its name to the UCI Pro Team in 2023.
The project is said to expand the current ProTeam to both a men's and women's squad, as well as an academy for young riders, but a specific figure for a new budget has yet to emerge. On Monday, Ouest France suggested around 15 million euros per annum.
B&B Hotels-KTM told Cyclingnews in no uncertain terms that it denied "all these informations" that had appeared in Ouest France and that it would be making no further comment at the time.
The welter of rumours and counter-rumours will hopefully be settled once and for all at a B&B Hotels-KTM press conference due to be held in Paris on October 26th, the day before the Tour de France presentation. It is widely expected that new signings and plans for the team for 2023 will be confirmed.
