On August 23, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team was delighted to announce important news for the future of its sporting project: the re-signing of its title sponsors Groupama and FDJ for three more years. The announcement was made a few hours before the start of a weekend in Plouay where the structure's Juniors, Conti and WorldTour teams were all set to compete. It is a strong symbol of what the youth development represents for the Groupama-FDJ cycling team, which in 2019 created La Conti as part of the momentum built up by the union, unique at the time, of these two major French companies. The aim is to continue to support, develop and secure its young talent, like Romain Grégoire, who has extended his commitment to the WorldTour team until 2027.

The recent appointment of Thierry Cornec as Deputy Director General, as well as the evolution of several internal divisions, including Philippe Mauduit as head of the Sport Direction and Julien Pinot as head of the Training Direction, illustrate the desire to structure the team and further develop excellence at the heart of the sporting project. For each of the team's departments, priority will be given to the ongoing quest for the highest level of performance. Following on from the work accomplished with its new cycle partner, Wilier Triestina, the team will continue its commitment to an in-depth research and development process for its bikes. On the strength of these new approaches, the Groupama-FDJ Cycling Team intends to continue to assert itself as one of the best teams in the world.

Groupama, a major player in professional cycling since the creation of the Groupama-FDJ Cycling Team in 2018, is also committed to promoting cycling throughout France for the benefit of all. With the "Ton Club, Ton Maillot" operation, Groupama has been providing practical support for amateur cycling for the past 5 years, offering equipment (jerseys and shorts) to 600 clubs to enable more than 15,000 licence-holders to ride like pros. The company is also a partner of Vélotour, a concept that enables people to explore French towns in complete safety, by means of unusual bike rides in places that are sometimes inaccessible to cyclists, while at the same time raising awareness among French people from an early age about ecomobility and good practice in safe cycling.

For its part, FDJ has supported the men's team since 1997, now Groupama-FDJ, and, since 2017, the women's team FDJ-SUEZ. As a partner of the French Cycling Federation, the French Cycling League and the men's and women's Tours de France, La Française des Jeux is also working to develop soft mobility through its ‘Recyclisme’ programme, which provides free bike servicing for cyclists at cycling competitions in the whole country, and its ‘Remise en Selle’ courses, which enable disadvantaged people to get back on their bikes.

 

DAVID GAUDU IN CONTENTION FOR THE GC IN THE VUELTA

There are only four stages left in the Vuelta 2024 and David Gaudu is playing a major role! The Breton rider set off from Lisbon just over two weeks ago with the clear intention of rediscovering his best form and competing in the GC. He has kept his word, as he now sits in provisional sixth place! If he holds on to this position until Madrid, it will be a very interesting base to work from with a view to the 2025 season. Two other riders who have back-to-back Tours and Vueltas are also shining on the Iberian roads: Quentin Pacher, second on stage 10 only to be beaten by Wout van Aert, and Stefan Küng, who claimed three top 5 finishes. The Swiss rider will be one of the favourites on Sunday for the final stage in the Spanish capital: a 24-kilometre time trial.

ROMAIN GRÉGOIRE BATTLES IT OUT WITH JONAS VINGEGAARD IN POLAND

After taking part in his very first Tour de France at the age of just 21, Romain Grégoire is in the process of reaching a serious milestone in the second half of this summer. At the Tour de Pologne, the rider from Franche-Comté was one of the strongest performers, finishing 4th overall, just 33 seconds behind two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard. It was his best GC ranking in a one-week WorldTour race. The team also put in some fine performances in August on the high-level calendar: Thibaud Gruel finished 8th in the Bretagne Classic in his first appearance in a classic of this scale, and Valentin Madouas took 3rd place in the queen stage of the Renewi Tour, around the Muur van Geraardsbergen.

A MONTH FULL OF GREAT RESULTS FROM OUR YOUNG GUNS

In mid-August, the riders from La Conti experienced a special discovery: they took part in the Tour of Romania for the very first time and... they excelled! Lewis Bower won the third stage and repeated the feat two days later, finishing ahead of his team-mate Ronan Augé on the fifth stage. A few days earlier, Brieuc Rolland, with the jersey of the WorldTeam, finished third on the Polynormande. The following week, he ended the Tour de l'Avenir with the French national team in 8th place. The Programme Juniors put on a real show of strength at the Grand Prix de Plouay: Aurélien Kayser, Johan Blanc and Baptiste Grégoire took the top three places in this international event. What a great thrill it was!

As the Vuelta nears its conclusion, it is the one-day races that will now take centre stage for the final part of the cycling season. On Sunday 8, the Bemer Cyclassics will get underway in Hamburg, before the WorldTour calendar takes the riders to Canada for the Grands Prix in Quebec (on 13) and Montreal (on 15). September will also see a number of major championships being held. First, the European Championships in Limburg, with the time trial on the 12th and the road race on the 15th. Then the World Championships in Zurich, with the time trial on the 22nd and the road race on the 29th. The Groupama-FDJ Cycling Team hopes to count on the participation of a large number of its riders in their national teams, and will be supporting Stefan Küng in particular in his quest for a third continental title and/or a first-ever rainbow jersey, with his Wilier Triestina Supersonica SLR. 

The French calendar will feature plenty of events for both the WorldTeam, which will contest the GP de Fourmies, Isbergues and Paris-Chauny, and La Conti, which will line up at the GP de Nogent-sur-Oise, Paris-Vierzon and the Tour d'Eure-et-Loir. For the development team, however, the big event of the month was the Tour of Britain from the 3rd to the 8th: a ProSeries event in which the team fought it out with some of the world's best riders, including double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel.

This month, we're delighted to allow you to play for your chance to win a Steam activation key for Pro Cycling Manager 2024! 10 winners will be drawn from among those who find the right answers to the following questions: test your knowledge of the team by trying to identify these six riders!