The men's Katusha Alpecin World Tour team has been acquired by the Israel Cycling Academy, but the Katusha Sports clothing brand will remain in the sport in 2020 and will be the clothing supplier and title sponsor of the Bigla team. The team announced that it will operate as Bigla Katusha starting next season.

"We have been the main partner of the UCI Men's World Tour for three years with great success. We have full confidence in women's cycling and we couldn't be more pleased to launch this project," announced Alexis Chauve, CEO of Katusha Sport.

Bigla has signed Clara Koppenburg as team leader for 2020, but has lost Cecilie Uttrup-Ludwig to FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope. Bigla Katusha is not one of the eight women's teams applying to compete on the World Tour in 2020.

Last year, Campana was accused of bullying and intimidating several players in 2015. He denied any wrongdoing and told Cycling News that "what is written is definitely not on our side."

No action was taken by the UCI, but the team announced it would implement mediation and dispute management services.

"It is great that Katusha has made the decision to join our team. Katusha is a long-term partner and supporter of pro cycling and through her partnership with our team, we will embark further into women's cycling," Campana said in the announcement.

"This is clearly a sign that the sport and our team continue to develop along the right path. We are very pleased that Katusha is not only providing us with advanced cycling apparel, but also becoming our team's second title partner. With this investment, Katusha is demonstrating innovation and confidence in the market of women cyclists around the world."

Based in Geneva, Switzerland, Katusha Sport will use its partnership with Bigla to develop women's clothing.

"With a professional team as its research "lab," Katusha Sport's goal is to be able to bring cutting-edge technology, function, and style to the women's market," Katusha Sport said.

"Katusha Sport's staff is 50% women, including the head of product development. While this may sound like an unremarkable number at first, we are proud of this equality in an industry where women make up roughly 10% of the workforce.

"We believe that partnership and support should match this. We are excited to partner with such a well-run and organized team and look forward to working closely with the players and staff."

The 2020 Bigla Katusha team kit will be released in January 2020 and available for purchase.