ProTouchGlobal, the sports management company of former pro athlete Robbie Hunter, has created a new continental team Nippo-Provence-PTS Conti for 2021 (opens in new tab).

EF Education First and Cannondale are also named as co-sponsors, suggesting that this development team will be linked to the World Tour team EF Pro Cycling. This American team has significant ties to Nippo as a future co-sponsor.

The Nippo Provence PTS Conti will consist of 12 riders in 2021, with Matvei Mamikin, a 26-year-old Russian ex-Katusha rider, being the most notable. He will team up with four Swiss riders, two Ethiopian riders, two French riders, and riders from Japan, Norway, and Poland.

Former Swiss national team coach Marcello Albasini (father of recently retired World Tour pro rider Michael) will oversee the team.

"This is a great opportunity for the young riders," he said. I look forward to working with them and the sponsor teams to build something special for the future."

The Swiss-based team has drawn Japanese construction company Nippo and southern French corporate conglomerate Provence away from pro team Nippo Delco One Provence, which has been in crisis for the past few months. Also named as a sponsor is the Dutch sports staffing platform Pro Touch Staff (PTS).

The news of the Provence Group sponsor joining the new team is a further blow to the ailing Nippo Delco One Provence team, which has been the subject of UCI proceedings following several complaints over unpaid wages during the 2020 season.

In November, the UCI admitted to Cycling News that it had initiated proceedings against Rainbow Pro Cycling, led by team manager Philippe Lanne, regarding a UCI bank guarantee.

The team's three riders, Jose Gonçalves, Atsushi Oka, and Masahiro Ishigami, were told they would not be joining the team next year, despite having contracts for 2021. Japanese rider Atsushi Oka reported that he was kicked out of the team house and told he would receive no support in 2021. Lanne denied that the rider had not received a salary and claimed that he had not been contacted directly by the UCI.

Lanne's apparent actions against the team's remaining Japanese riders (Hideto Nakane moved to EF Pro Cycling) appear to have been the result of Nippo ending its sponsorship deal with the team after the season.

There is further conflict between Hunter and Lanne; Cyclingnews reported last month that Hunter's client, Dušan Rajović of Nippo Delco One Provence, was told to change agents to get a better deal.