De Bondt chose to leave Alpecin-Deceuninck himself: "More freedom in a team without a superstar rider like Van der Poel"

At 32 years old, De Bondt can be described as an experienced figure within the men's peloton. Yet, the affable Belgian does experience some healthy nerves regarding his move to Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, after having spent no less than five seasons riding for the Roodhooft brothers (Philip Roodhooft and Christoph Roodhooft). "It's really quite exciting, despite the fact that I've gained quite a bit of experience. When you've been with the same team for five years and you slowly start to become part of the scenery, it's also hard to leave that employer, especially because you're stepping out of your comfort zone. I'm definitely not ready for retirement yet, but turning 33 in half a year might be right time in my career to get that new stimulus. So, I'm very curious to see what that will bring."

In response to our follow-up question about whether he actually feels like he's in his thirties, De Bondt - who won a stage in the Giro d'Italia in 2022 - says he does not. "I feel more like 14 than 32," he says with a laugh. So why then did he leave the Roodhooft team, being so young at heart? "It wasn't necessarily that I had to leave Alpecin-Deceuninck. But for me, it's just very difficult to get a lot of freedom riding for that team. That's why I started looking for opportunities to do my own thing more often. With Alpecin-Deceuninck, I noticed that when we didn't start with Mathieu van der Poel or Jasper Philipsen, we had a bit more freedom. And that is when I can achieve the best results for myself."

De Bondt clearly still possesses a significant amount of sporting ambition. "Too much to confine myself to a role as a domestique or super-domestique," he clarifies. "I didn’t feel ready for that, especially because I really like to experience the adrenaline of the finale. That’s ultimately why you become a cyclist. And besides: my abilities extend beyond just being a domestique."

Ambitious, but at the same time realistic. That is certainly a fair characterization of De Bondt. "Races like Gent-Wevelgem or Dwars door Vlaanderen are realistically the highest I can aim for," he explains when we ask about his more specific goals. "But if I dare to dream and imagine a scenario where everything falls into place, a race like Paris-Roubaix might also be possible. However, I would really need to have luck on my side for that. Or at least little misfortune, because that can also take you far. Fortunately, they say I was born lucky!", he adds, bringing a smile to both sides of the microphone once again.

"The most important goal for me is winning a semi-classic," he further specifies. "In my opinion, that's definitely still within my capabilities. I would also like to ride another Grand Tour besides the Giro d'Italia. Normally, I would have ridden the Vuelta a España last year, but they left me at home. That was unfortunate, but I still made the best of it in the autumn. And that went quite well. Still, I would like to ride the Tour de France sometime. With this team, it might just be possible. After all: why not? Besides, I would like to increase my victory tally in the Grand Tours, which currently stands at one. And then a Spanish or French stage victory would certainly not be amiss," De Bondt unambiguously states.

In that context, De Bondt indicates that he will only be satisfied if he manages to claim victory at least once in the white-blue jersey of his new employer by the end of 2024. "It's difficult, but actually, I should win a race in the first year with the new jersey, right? Preferably three, of course, but let's start with the first one. Usually, the rest then follows naturally."

In 2024, we can therefore expect to see De Bondt mainly as a stage hunter in multi-day races, but perhaps also in the spring classics. Anyone who takes a look at the roster of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale will notice the lack of absolute top classic riders. On paper, Oliver Naesen and De Bondt seem to stand out in the pecking order. De Bondt himself agrees with this. "I think Oliver and I are very complementary. We don't have a real leader for the classics in this team. Not really. Such pure leaders are not too common in the peloton. Of course, there's Tadej Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, but the real top riders are few and far between. There simply aren't many of them."

That means that for riders such as Naesen and De Bondt, it's about finding the right moments to anticipate, as De Bondt himself explains. "After all, you simply can't keep up when the very best make their move. That's why it's important for teams without an absolute world top rider to strengthen in width and to have as many riders as possible in the team who can sense the right moments to strike in a race," he aptly clarifies.