Despite his controversial statements regarding women's cycling, Patrick Lefebvre is making inroads into the sport as the company he co-owns, Experza, will co-sponsor NXTG Racing beginning in 2022.

Experza, a dispatch company co-founded by Lefevere and Sylvie Anroad in 2010, will financially support the team that has become one of the most successful women's development programs in the sport in just three seasons. The team has been renamed NXTG by Experza and has announced that it will have 16 riders by 2022.

"As a staffing agency, we are always looking to get the best out of not only our own employees, but also those we refer to our clients, and the NXTG Racing Team provides a professional framework, allowing young cyclists to give their best. approach fits seamlessly into our philosophy," said Unreid, who is also manager of Experza.

"In Experza itself, I see employees who have been with us since the beginning continue to grow, not only through training, but also through dedication and a willingness to learn from their mistakes. That is our goal at NXTG. We can't win every day, but we can learn every day. Plus, we are a very sporty company and I look forward to going out cycling and having fun with the NXTG riders."

According to a press release issued Friday, NXTG by Experza will provide a professional environment for riders to grow as athletes, along with a racing calendar to bridge the gap from junior to elite. Cycling offers limited infrastructure for women under the age of 23 (19-22), there is no Nations Cup for this age group, and there is no under-23 category in the UCI Road World Championships.

NXTG Racing riders who will move to the Women's World Team next year include Charlotte Kuhl, who will move to Team DSM, and Shari Vosuit, who will move to Canyon-SRAM in 2022.

This is not the first time Lefebvre has partnered with a women's team. He helped relaunch the UCI women's team Experza-Footlogix in 2018, which took over the former team Sport Vlaanderen. However, the team disbanded the following year in 2019.

Lefevere, owner and operator of the men's WorldTour team Deceuninck-QuickStep, in an interview with members of the media before the UCI Road World Championships in Flanders, Belgium, in September She denied the idea and came under fire.

In an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws Sportscast, Lefebvre said she was "not welfare" and did not have the "experience, time, money or desire to invest" in women's cycling.

Lefebvre's remarks were the latest in a series of rants that escalated in the media throughout the season; in July, he made the extraordinary and insensitive claim that Sam Bennett's return to Beulah Hansgrohe was akin to "a woman returning home after domestic abuse." He made this extremely insensitive statement in his weekly column in Het Nieuwsblad and issued an apology in his column the following week.

However, in an interview with CyclingTips (opens in new tab), Lefebvre discussed his decision to invest in a women's development team next year instead of building a women's world team. 2022, the number of women's world teams, Roland Cogeas Edelweiss Squad, Jumbo Visma, EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, and Human Powered Health, could increase from nine to 14 teams with the addition of five new teams.

"First of all, I want to say that, contrary to popular opinion, I have nothing against women's cycling. On the contrary. With Expelza and NXTG, I begin my journey in women's cycling. Women's cycling is growing very rapidly. However, at this point, I feel that a certain level of ridership is lacking for all of the current World Tour teams. So I, on the contrary, want to start with juniors and young riders and give them an environment where they can grow. So I got in touch with Natasha Naveen den Oden [founder of NXTG Racing] and we started talking."

NXGT by Experza aims to continue to support the development of female riders on the international racing scene. Team founder Natasha Nataven den Oden said she is pleased to have the support of her new co-sponsor, Experza.

"We are very happy to have Esperza by our side as we continue to grow as a team. As well as being a company that is firmly grounded, it also shows great ambition; at NXTG we are certainly ambitious, but we are also pragmatic. For example, the step from our NXTG U19 junior development team to the elite is still a big one for girls," says Knabenden-Wouden.

"Very few take that step without help. I'm proud that Experza is helping to provide a stage for these girls to further develop and maximize their talents both on and off the bike."

"We are proud to be a part of this program, and we are proud to be a part of it.

The team also announced its roster for 2022, which includes 16 riders.