Most of the teams for the World Cycling Championships, which start on Saturday in Zurich, had already been announced, but one was still missing: the selection from L'Équipe de France. On Friday, via a statement on their website, it was revealed that the French team will bring four strong contenders to Switzerland.
“Tadej Pogacar is unbeatable on an individual level,” the statement read. Therefore, the French team acknowledges that they will rely on a collective effort. “We will need to count on the cohesion between the riders, who know each other well, and the strategic brilliance of our coach.” That coach, Thomas Voeckler, echoed a similar sentiment: “Beating Pogacar will be very difficult, but on this circuit, it's less challenging than in a grand tour. It's still possible—it's a bike race, after all,” he said confidently.
To attempt to beat the Slovenian, the French team says they have four key riders. The first of these is Julian Alaphilippe. The Soudal-Quick Step rider recently showed strong form with a third-place finish at the GP Montréal and was the world champion just three years ago (for the second time in a row). “I’m not questioning whether Julian is better or worse than he was in 2021. What’s certain is that the competition has evolved,” Voeckler said, acknowledging the tough opposition.
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Madouas and Gaudu as backup, rest of the team also looking strong
The second key rider is Romain Bardet. The climber from dsm-firmenich PostNL has already had an impressive season, with a stage win (and wearing the yellow jersey!) in the Tour de France, as well as a second-place finish in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Bardet is set to retire from cycling in 2025, but according to the national coach, that wasn’t a factor in his selection. “I didn’t pick him because it’s his last year, but because I know I can count on him.”
Additionally, the French team boasts two more leaders in this lineup—Groupama-FDJ stars Valentin Madouas and David Gaudu. Madouas was chosen for his “unmatched resilience and strength in circuit racing,” while Gaudu is valued for his “perfect skillset for this course.” Gaudu showed strong form in this year’s Vuelta, where he narrowly missed the top five on the final day, finishing sixth overall.
Voeckler rounds out the French squad with Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates), Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek), and two more Groupama-FDJ riders, Romain Grégoire and Rudy Molard. Sivakov, the Franco-Russian, has also proven himself to be a solid contender in stage races this year, finishing ninth overall in the Vuelta as the highest-placed rider from UAE Team Emirates.
Selection France 2024 Cycling World Championships
Julian Alaphilippe
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