Groupama-FDJ under review: Red Bull and Bahrain hijack talents, so pressure will soon be on familiar shoulders
CyclingFriday, 08 November 2024 at 15:45
Groupama-FDJ is one of the most established teams in the WorldTour in France, but they, too, have to compete against the big-money teams in 2024. How did the French talents perform after all? Not bad, concludes IDLProCycling.com.
One-day races 2024: Groupama-FDJ
Although the most significant performance was expected from cobblestone specialist Stefan Küng, the very young Laurence Pithie impressed in the one-day events. The Australian came to Belgium and performed excellently (including a win in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race) and actually colored all the major cobbled races by showing he could join the best. This earned him a top-ten finish in Paris-Roubaix and seventh place in the Vélodrome.
Groupama-FDJ's list of achievements also includes many Lenny Martinez, who did well in the (mostly French) climbing races. Wins in the Classic Var, Trofeo Laigueglia, Tour du Doubs, and Mercan'Tour Classic Alpes-Maritimes made for happy faces. Kevin Geniets went on to win the Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille La Marseillaise and the Luxembourg NK. Stefan Küng ended the year in style with a win in the Chrono des Nations.
Read more below the photo.
Laurence Pithie
(Grand) tours 2024: Groupama-FDJ
Four of the fifteen victories in 2024 came from tour work so that certainly wasn't too bad. In the Giro d'Italia, Enzo Paleni was ranked 56th, and in the Tour de France, Valentin Madouas was best ranked 25th. Nevertheless, the Vuelta a España made up for Groupama-FDJ's always highly regarded GC ambitions, with sixth place for David Gaudu. The French climber also won a stage in the Tour of Luxembourg.
In one-week stage races, Martinez also performed well for a long time. Second in O Gran Camiño (behind Jonas Vingegaard), seventh in the Tour de Catalunya, and eighth in the Tour de Romandie. Then, on paper, Groupama-FDJ made the odd choice to send Martinez to the Tour de France, for which, judging from a 32nd place in the Tour of Switzerland, he was not ready.
So Gaudu saved the year in terms of GCs in part two of the season in the Vuelta and finished third in Luxembourg. Other than that, there were no top ten places for him. For his part, Romain Gregoire finished seventh in the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes and fourth in the Tour of Poland. Nevertheless, his best performance was a stage victory in the Tour of the Basque Country.
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Final figure 2024 Groupama-FDJ
A 6.3 in 2023 turns into a 6.1 on this occasion. Not surprisingly, because in terms of performance, the last two seasons were pretty much tied together. It was not too bad in the grand tours, competing in the spring, but not enough cyclists kept winning.
Transfers 2024/2025: Groupama-FDJ
Ten (!) talents were transferred from the training team in two winters, including Brieuc Rolland this time. They also shopped at WorldTour teams Cofidis and Movistar for Guillaume Martin, Rémi Cavagna, and Johan Jacobs. These are all quality guys who should make up for the loss of the departing Lenny Martinez together. The young climber to Bahrain Victorious is a massive loss for Groupama-FDJ.
So is Laurence Pithie, who will ride for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe after a great spring. For his part, Samuel Watson will soon be racing for INEOS Grenadiers. So, on paper, the team is not improving, but we thought that more often in the past. Can the increasingly young team still surprise, or will it have to come from the established names after all?
New arrivals: Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Rémi Cavagna (Movistar Team), Johan Jacobs (Movistar Team), Tom Donnenwirth (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team), Clément Braz Afonso (CIC U Nantes Atlantique) and Brieuc Rolland (Equipe continentale Groupama-FDJ)
Leaving (provisional): Ignatas Konovalovas (quits) Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Fabian Lienhard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), Samuel Watson (INEOS Grenadiers) and Reuben Thompson (Lotto)
Read more below the photo.
Lenny Martinez
Ones to watch 2025: Groupama-FDJ
Groupama-FDJ has pushed one talent after another to the WorldTour team in recent years, and it was certainly not always without success. Lenny Martinez earned an excellent transfer. Romain Gregoire will stay on board, though, and with his punch and climbing skills, he is one of the big stars for the future of this formation. The still-only 22-year-old Paul Penhoët was also kept out of the hands of the big players, so they have added someone for the sprints and one-day classics.
In general, however, in 2025, most of the work will come from experienced riders. David Gaudu should push on, and Valentin Madouas, in his best form, is also dangerous. Guillaume Martin will play his part, and Stefan Küng is nowhere near the end of his rope. So, there are no big superstars; they might come from a group of talents recruited in many places.
Read more below the photo.
David Gaudu
(Provisional) selection Groupama-FDJ 2025
- Lewis Askey
- Cyril Barthe
- Clément Braz Afonso
- Sven Erik Bystrom
- Rémi Cavagna
- Clément Davy
- Tom Donnenwirth
- David Gaudu
- Kevin Geniets
- Lorenzo Germani
- Romain Grégoire
- Thibaud Gruel
- Johan Jacobs
- Stefan Küng
- Olivier Le Gac
- Eddy Le Huitouze
- Valentin Madouas
- Guillaume Martin
- Rudy Molard
- Quentin Pacher
- Enzo Paleni
- Paul Penhoët
- Rémy Rochas
- Brieuc Rolland
- Clément Russo
- Lars van den Berg
- Matthew Walls
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Latest Comments
- Van Aert is really handsome. He can influence me all day! Ditto for Philipsen. Why do you think many of us love cycling?: to see heroic attempts at climbing mountains at high altitudes or to watch speedsters sprint for the finish line or to watch a human being ride at break neck speed down a tricky descent? No, it's all about their lean physiques and muscular legs. (apologies for objectifying these dedicated and amazing athletes).BarwonHeadsUp25-10-2024
- It is unfortunate that the author can't feel the joy that Pogacar brings to the sport and his fans who are legion and I for one feel lucky to have watched such a memorable performance and historic season From the Strada until yesterday with multiple wins in stages in both tours and beyond dominance in the World's. He is proud to wear the Rainbow stripes, shows his leadership to protect his fellows and is as courteous and sportsman-like as the sport allows. He goes early to not have to respond to each attack as all the rest would make him do it. Any racer who could would do the same. Don't "grow tired" of greatness as it is always fleeting.ccrider13-10-2024
- What load of rubbish. Pog is likely a once in a generation cyclist, the like of which hasn't been seen since 'the Cannibal '. How many people were complaining that Merckx was making racing predictable? I remember this year's World RR as one of the most exciting I've watched. Mainly BECAUSE Pog was the favourite and launched what everyone thought (Pog included) was a suicidal attack with 80km to go. For the next 2 hours, I was on the edge of my seat thinking "this is too much, even for Pog". Maybe Zonnefeld prefers the snooze-fest that is a bunch sprint? Like most people I know, I can't watch two hours of the bunch riding very fast... I wait for the final 5km and watch just the sprint. In any event, most races are won from a sprint or lone break. What difference does it make who makes the lone break? Ultimately, the other contenders will have to figure out a way to beat Pog. Even if that means collaboration between teams. It's going to be an exciting few seasons, until the next Pog arrives on the scene. If this is boring, heaven knows what exciting looks like!Michael513-10-2024
- This is not a gravel race. UCI fail, from the surface they are on to team tactics. In what country was the first "gravel race" in what country is the most popular gravel race? Go with the race model that created the discipline.
Barnes127411-10-2024 - And don't forget he has now won 4 of the big 10 races (Grand tours, Monuments and WC/OG) in one year with a chance to make that 5. (5 has only been done once before)Joostmehrtens05-10-2024