Cofidis under review: budget increase timed perfectly in year of truth for Frenchmen

Cycling
Friday, 01 November 2024 at 10:51
axel zingle
At the end of each cycling season, IDLProCycling.com reviews the WorldTour team by team to give them a rating. Now it's time for France's Cofidis, which has been part of the peloton for nearly thirty years. Spoiler: 2024 was not great for Cedric Vasseur's formation.

One-day races 2024: Cofidis

Cofidis managed to win one one-day race in 2024: Axel Zingle was the best in the Boucles de l'Aulne in May. After all, he was the man it was all about in the one-day races. Zingle started the season well but failed to perform during the big classics. He made up for this at the end of April and the beginning of May with a series of top finishes and, thus, one win.
"We felt Axel was losing momentum at the beginning of the year; he seemed lost," said team boss Vasseur after the season, referring to the rider who left for Visma | Lease a Bike. "We even had to adjust his program and remove him from our schedule for the Flemish classics. He had to defend the colors of Cofidis there, but it didn't work," said the Frenchman harshly, whose team couldn't defend its colors anyway.
Cofidis failed in the big classics in the spring, but in October, Ion Izagirre saved the day with a great fourth place in the Tour of Lombardy. The Basque also finished fifth in the GP Montréal a little earlier, providing essential points for his team.
Read more below the photo.
Axel Zingle

(Grand) tours 2024: Cofidis

Of course, the Tour de France is the biggest race of the year for Cofidis. In 2023, the team won two stages and finished in the top ten, but they did not perform well this season. Guillaume Martin's thirteenth place earned him a few points, but the management probably hoped for more.
They were more successful in the Giro d'Italia, with a nice stage win by Benjamin Thomas. Remarkably, this was the first (!) season's victory for Vasseur's team in mid-May. Simon Geschke finished 14th in the GC of the Italian grand tour, whereas Martin finished 15th in the equally anonymous Vuelta a España later in the season.
In terms of one-week stage races, Cofidis has also had better years. Ion Izagirre finished ninth in the Tour of the Basque Country, and Bryan Coquard recorded a long-awaited WorldTour victory in Switzerland, but it was no more than that at WorldTour level. One level down, there were only some results in French stage races.
Read more below the photo.
benjamin thomas michael valgren

Final figure 2024 Cofidis

Last season, Cofidis scored 7.4. This year, the (former) editorial team of IDLProCycling.com is much less optimistic. With no victories until mid-May, only five wins in total, and a fairly anonymous season, we rate Cofidis' 2024 cycling year with a 4.1.

Transfers 2024/2025: Cofidis

Cofidis has vigorously shaken up the transfer market this winter, but it was necessary, too. The insurance company is once again committed to a higher budget for 2025, in which the WorldTour license must be secured. To do so, they had to spend a lot of money, especially since the best-scoring riders of 2024 are leaving the team.
Zingle, as is well known, is leaving for Visma | Lease a Bike, which Vasseur was not particularly pleased with. 'At Cofidis, he was guaranteed to be a leader. I'm not sure this will be the case at Visma. But yes, it's a career choice. Maybe in a year or two, Axel will be able to say that he made the right choice, or maybe not: that he should have stayed leader instead of fetching water bottles for Wout van Aert,' it sounded. In addition, Martin is leaving the team for a contract with Groupama-FDJ.
On the other hand, the team did acquire suitable replacements. Alex Aranburu, a man who is good for the necessary results every year, was brought in, while Dylan Teuns is a rider who can score in the biggest spring races. Martin, in turn, was replaced by potential grand tour leaders such as Emanuel Buchmann, Simon Carr, and Sylvain Moniquet.
It is not yet officially known which team Ben Hermans, Kenny Elissonde, Ruben Férnandez, Alexis Gougeard, Christophe Noppe, Axel Mariault, and Harrison Wood will race for in 2025.
New arrivals: Alex Aranburu, Sergio Samitier (Movistar), Emanuel Buchmann (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech), Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Dstny), Simon Carr (EF Education-EasyPost), Damien Touzé (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies), Sam Maisonobe (Vendée U) and Clement Izquierdo (AVC Aix-en-Provence)
Leaving (provisional): Gorka Izagirre, Simon Geschke (quit), Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ), Axel Zingle (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Thomas Champion (St Michel - Auber 93)

Ones to watch 2025: Cofidis

Cofidis has room for improvement, but it has also managed to put together an excellent selection for 2025. Cofidis is currently eighteenth in the ranking for a WorldTour license for 2026 through 2028, which is barely good enough. So, the objective for 2025 seems clear: retention and points are needed.
In that regard, Aranburu and Teuns can deliver an essential boost in the classics and smaller tours with their punch qualities. As for the big round work, Cofidis will hopefully be able to get the most out of Buchmann and Carr because then you are talking about two riders who can achieve the necessary. Carr is unbeatable on some days but just as often vulnerable. Buchmann once again reached his best level before the Giro, but to the dismay of many Germans, he ended up being pushed aside for that.
Furthermore, Cofidis will be hoping Bryan Coquard and Benjamin Thomas can contribute, while sprinters Milan Fretin and Stanislaw Aniolkowski may be able to make another move. Fretin already managed two of five wins this year and still has a margin for progression at 23 years of age.
Read more below the photo.

(Provisional) selection Cofidis 2025

  1. Pete Allegaert
  2. Stanislaw Aniolkowski
  3. Alex Aranburu
  4. Emanuel Buchmann
  5. Simon Carr
  6. Bryan Coquard
  7. Aimé De Gendt
  8. Nicolas Debeaumarché
  9. Valentin Ferron
  10. Eddy Finé
  11. Milan Fretin
  12. Jésus Herrada
  13. Ion Izagirre
  14. Clément Izquierdo
  15. Oliver Knight
  16. Jonathan Lastra
  17. Nolann Mahoudo
  18. Sam Maisonobe
  19. Sylvain Moniquet
  20. Stefano Oldani
  21. Anthony Perez
  22. Alexis Renard
  23. Ludovic Robeet
  24. Sergio Samitier
  25. Dylan Teuns
  26. Benjamin Thomas
  27. Hugo Toumire
  28. Damien Touzé

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