Citroën will co-sponsor AG2R La Mondiale from the start of the 2021 season. The French WorldTour team, led by Vincent Lavene, will be renamed the AG2R Citroën team beginning in January.

The news was announced by the team on Thursday afternoon, and the carmaker's co-sponsorship was hailed in a brief statement as "a new chapter in the team's history." No details were given as to the length of the sponsorship agreement.

Ravenu founded the team in 1992 as Chazal, and Petit Casino became the title sponsor in 1996. The team was rebranded as a casino in 1997 following a significant budget increase and promotion to the top cycling league.

AG2R signed on as a sub-sponsor in 1997 and became the team's main sponsor in 2000. The French insurance company will continue to be the main sponsor in 2021, but Citroen's name will also appear on the jersey.

On Thursday, Citroen's social media accounts posted the brown and blue logo of the AG2R team, suggesting that the team's colors would not change despite the arrival of a new sponsor.

Citroen had a connection to cycling in the late 1990s through an advertising campaign in Italy featuring Marco Pantani (open in new tab), but at the end of 1999 the contract was not renewed and Il Pirata was replaced by soccer player Gianluca Vialli Gianluca Vialli, a soccer player, replaced Il Pirata.

In recent years, Citroën had a partnership with the Paris Saint-Germain soccer club, but the contract ended in 2017. Citroën is the second car brand to be announced as a sponsor of the World Tour in recent weeks, after it was confirmed that Team Ineos will be renamed Ineos Grenadiers for the 2020 Tour de France.

In a brief statement on Thursday, the AG2R team said it would announce details of its partnership with Citroen at a "special press conference organized by the cycling team" on August 28, the eve of the Tour's Grande Parle.

AG2R leader Romain Bardet is favored to move to Team Sunweb in 2021, while 2018 Tour best young rider Pierre Latour will reportedly join Total Direct Energie next season.

Oliver Naessen, Benoit Cosnefrois, and Larry Warbus are among the AG2R riders already committed to the team for 2021 and beyond, and the Belgian press reports that Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaat from the CCC team reported that he may join.