Car rental company Europcar has sponsored the cycling team led by Jean-René Bernaudeau since 2011, and the sponsoring contract was to run out at the end of this season. Today team and sponsor announced that they have renewed their partnership for another two years.

Marcus Bernhardt, Commercial Director of the Europcar group, said: “Europcar chose cycling in late 2010 because it is a sport that reaches out to the public and is practiced all over the world. The values of the sport are the same as ours as a mobility enterprise, and we are very proud to continue this amazing adventure. We have no doubt that this partnership will continue to be to our great satisfaction.”

Europcar stepped up as a sponsor at the eleventh hour in October 2010, saving the Vendée-based team from folding. And their investment paid off: In 2011, Thomas Voeckler wore the yellow jersey in the Tour de France for ten days, defending it vigorously, and finished on a fourth place. Pierre Rolland won the stage to Alpe d’Huez and the white jersey as best young rider, being 10th overall; the team won 21 more UCI victories that year.

In 2012, the team again won 21 races, including three stages of the Tour de France. Rolland took one of these stage wins and improved to an 8th place in the Tour general classification, while Voeckler won two stages as well as the mountain jersey. The Europcar team has collected 22 victories so far in the 2013 season, but hasn’t achieved any lasting success in this year’s Tour de France yet. Pierre Rolland was leading the mountain classification for much of the race, but had to relinquish the polka-dot jersey on the Mont Ventoux yesterday. However, both he and Voeckler will try to reach at least some of their goals in the last week of the Tour.

At the team’s press conference on the second rest day of the Tour, team manager Jean-René Bernaudeau said that the team will not go out of its way to secure a WorldTour license: “There will be no recruitment of the riders only to get into the WorldTour; we won’t go out and buy points.” It can be assumed that Bernaudeau wouldn’t turn down the opportunity if his current squad would amass enough points to qualify for the highest level of cycling, though.