According to some reporting done by Cycling Weekly, Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa will debut his Bahrain Project WorldTour cycling team at the Tour de France as they seek to be racing by 2017.

The Prince is expecting to have a budget of between £11.5 and £13.7 million, the latter number still being £10 million down on Sky’s budget.

Vincenzo Nibali is expected to be the star signing, and he will take his Astana teammates Alessandro Vanotti and Valerio Agnoli with him. He has also reportedly asked Sky’s Nicolas Roche to come with him.

Bianchi may provide the bikes while the kit will be provided by Sportful, provided Tinkoff closes its doors at the end of the season.