LENNY, NUMBER FIVE!
At just 20, he's becoming a real expert in winning tough one-day races! Already awarded in the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge in 2023, Lenny Martinez has added the Classic Var, the Trofeo Laigueglia, the Classic Grand Besançon and the Tour du Doubs to his list of achievements in the first half of the 2024 season. Taking a break during May, the rider from the Var returned to competition on the 29th in the Mercan'Tour Classic, where he achieved his fifth win of the year on a mountainous course. It wasn't without a scare: on the decisive climb to the Col de la Couillole, Lenny Martinez had a crash and was forced to pull back on the leading group, before finding the strength to make it to the summit alone with his opponent Clément Berthet. He then beat him in the last kilometre in the Valberg resort. From 9 to 16 June, the young climber will be at the start of the Tour de Suisse.
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A BUSY MAY FOR THE YOUNG GUNS
By competing in the Giro d'Italia, Laurence Pithie took part in the first Grand Tour of his career. The New Zealander, who has made a remarkable spring classics campaign, gained experience, particularly in the bunch sprints, taking fourth and eighth place in different stages. Enzo Paleni, who was also taking part in a three-week race for the first time, also achieved a top-4 finish in a breakaway on stage five. Paul Penhoët, who was initially scheduled to start the pink race before suffering a knee injury during the winter, changed his programme and resumed racing on the Circuit de Wallonie, finishing a fine fourth. He quickly found his best form again, taking second place in the Quatre jours de Dunkerque, with two second-place stage finishes, and another one the following week in the Boucles de la Mayenne. In this event, another former La Conti resident performed well: Sam Watson ranked fourth overall.
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SIX MORE VICTORIES FOR LA CONTI
In less than a month, four different La Conti riders have experienced the joy of victory. First it was Maxime Decomble, on 8 May, who became French U23 time trial champion. Two weeks later, as he won the first and third stages on the Alpes Isère Tour, Noah Hobbs claimed the first two pro victories of his career. At the following event, the Ronde de l'Oise, Lewis Bower also opened his professional account by taking victory on the first stage. The same week, Brieuc Rolland competed in the Course de la Paix with the French national team. The Breton rider excelled on the legendary youth competition, winning both the queen's stage at Dlouhé stráne and the final overall classification of the Czech race.
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Didn't see the main leaders of the Groupama-FDJ cycling team racing for most of May? That's normal: they were preparing for the Tour de France! As is usual at this time of year, after the first part of the season and in particular the spring classics, a short break is followed by a high altitude training camp. In 2024, the island of Tenerife in the Canaries was once again favoured by the team and its Training Department, who were keen to create the best possible training conditions just a few weeks before the Grand Boucle. "The Teide volcano is the ideal location, explains Julien Pinot. But this year, we've done things differently, by not staying in a hotel but in various gîtes that have been freshly renovated and opened very recently. An agency puts the owners in touch with the cycling teams. This was an option that we quickly considered, with the aim of having a different group dynamic, an atmosphere like the one we'd had in the past during reconnaissance courses in the Alps where we were staying in chalets. It breaks the routine!"
"Six riders lived in one gîte, six members of staff in another, and we even had a third where we could accommodate, for example, the Netflix film crew when they visited us, the psychologist, the mental trainer or the communications staff, explains the head of the Training Department. It gives us greater flexibility. For example, it enabled us to bring in the chef, who prepared the meals in the kitchen of a nearby restaurant that provided us with a room to eat in. We also had the opportunity to invite former Olympic biathlon champion Marie-Laure Brunet, with whom we work on mental preparation. We've managed to organise staff turnover too, with different coaches, sports directors, physiotherapists and assistants coming and going. It's not as much of a vacuum as it used to be when we stayed in the hotel. We were able to add various workshops to the programme to talk about the Tour de France and strategy. The riders really appreciated it."
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“A CAMP IS ONLY SUCCESSFUL IF IT IS FOLLOWED BY RESULTS”
Julien Pinot has no doubts about the benefits of a training camp at altitude, but it has to be adapted to the profile of each rider. "It's physiological, he explains. Each rider not only reacts differently to altitude, but may even have different assimilations between a camp in January and one in May. The important thing is to be able to adapt and to work hand in hand with the medical and nutritional staff." The other crucial parameter is the weather: "Bad conditions can ruin your preparation. At least in Tenerife, all the odds are in our favour. In this month of May, we've had good weather, and that's a precious combination with the altitude."
"We've really had perfect training conditions, says Romain Grégoire, who will be taking part in the Tour de France in July. We know you have to go through that to improve your performance. It's three weeks of intense work, away from home, but cycling on such a beautiful island with friends, there are more unpleasant things in life... We're happy to go, happy to come back too and impatient to see all that work rewarded in the race." Julien Pinot has the last word on the subject: "From the Wednesday after the training camp, coaches debriefed everything together, as well as with the riders. We've already had some valuable discussions that will help us prepare for the training camps in the months and years to come. But we also have to wait and see what happens in competition: a camp is only successful if it is followed by results."
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Our sponsor FDJ is a committed partner of cycling. In addition to the three professional teams supported by the company, FDJ also backs major cycling events such as the Tour de France, the FDJ French Cup and the French National Championships.
Let's take a closer look at the 2024 French Road Cycling Championships, with the various activities offered by FDJ during the various events taking place in Normandy near Mont-Saint-Michel.
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THE "ATELIER RECYCLISME FDJ"
To encourage French workers to use environmentally-friendly means of transport, FDJ is offering a free workshop open to everyone at its partner cycling races. Professional mechanics are on hand to give advice and tips on bike maintenance and carry out mechanical repairs. During the French Championships, the "Atelier Recyclisme" will be located in the partner village near the finish line in Saint-Martin-de-Landelles, more specifically next to the church. The mechanics will be there from 9am to 6pm, from the time trial on Thursday 20 June until the men's road race on Sunday 23 June.
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THE FDJ PODIUM VAN
FDJ sets up an entertainment van at the start or finish of cycling races supported by the company. An host interacts with the public, by asking questions that allow those who give the right answer to win an FDJ gift or a replica item from the Groupama-FDJ cycling team.
LIKE A PRO
Six FDJ employees will be putting themselves in the shoes of our riders by taking part in a training camp with the Groupama-FDJ cycling team from 19 to 23 June, at the French Championships. There, they will prepare for their goal on 7 July: L'Etape du Tour. Their journey will be filmed and broadcast at the beginning of July on the FDJ LinkedIn and Youtube accounts. FDJ invites you to come in force to the 2024 French Road Cycling Championships in Avranches and Saint-Martin-de-Landelles, to cheer on our team riders and enjoy the FDJ special events.
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It's time for the final stretch before the Tour de France! The first of the two main preparatory events, the Critérium du Dauphiné, is underway and will finish on Sunday. The second, the Tour de Suisse, will start on the same day, two days after another Swiss competition: the GP des Kantons Aargau. With the cancellation of the Route d'Occitanie, a new competition appears on the team's calendar: the Tour of Slovenia.
Then, just before heading off to Italy for the Grand Départ of the Tour de France from Firenze, the national championships will be the focus of attention from June 20 to 23. On the French side, Normandy and the town of Saint-Martin-de-Landelles, home of legendary Tour de France host Daniel Mangeas, are organizing this year's competition, just a few miles from Mont-Saint-Michel.
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Thanks to TEMPUR®, our official supplier for premium bedding, play to win 2 DOWN LUXE pillows worth €329 each! Enjoy exceptional support and improved sleep to optimise your recovery and boost your sporting performance. Two winners will be drawn from among those who find all the right answers. The questions concern La Conti: are you in tune with the team's young guard?
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