Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale

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Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale
Team information
UCI codeDAT
RegisteredFrance
Founded1992 (1992)
Discipline(s)Road
StatusUCI WorldTeam
BicyclesFactor (To 2018)
Eddy Merckx Cycles (2019–2020)
BMC (2021–2023)
Van Rysel (2024–)
ComponentsShimano
WebsiteTeam home page
Key personnel
General managerVincent Lavenu
Team manager(s)Laurent Biondi
Team name history
1992–1995 Chazal
1996 Petit Casino
1997–1999 Casino–AG2R Prévoyance
2000–2007 AG2R Prévoyance
2008–2014 AG2R–La Mondiale
2015–2020 AG2R La Mondiale
2021–2023 AG2R Citroën Team
2024– Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale
Current season

Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale (UCI team code: DAT) is a French cycling team with UCI WorldTeam status. Its title sponsors are French sporting goods retailer Decathlon and French insurance firm AG2R La Mondiale. The team is predominantly French.

History

An AG2R Prévoyance team photo at the sign-in during stage 11 of the 2006 Tour de France

In 1992 Vincent Lavenu, who had just retired from professional cycling, started a professional cycling team with Chazal as the main sponsor. Lavenu had previously organised sponsorship from Chazal of his last professional team. This sponsor stayed from 1992 to 1995. In 1996 Petit Casino, a chain of coffee shops in supermarkets, took over the sponsorship of the team. At this time the team was a second division team that relied on the public to sponsor the team. The team had the saying "Petit Casino- c’est votre equipe" – "it's your team", which signified this involvement of the public.[1]

In 1997 Casino, the supermarket chain that contained the Petit Casino coffee shops, took over the sponsorship of the team and the budget increased substantially. Lavenu's team could compete in the big races such as the classics.[2] The team obtained successes with Alexander Vinokourov, Jaan Kirsipuu and Lauri Aus.

The insurance company Ag2r Prevoyance took over as the main sponsor in 2000.[3] The team obtained further successes with Laurent Brochard, Jaan Kirsipuu and Jean-Patrick Nazon. In 2006, the team joined the UCI ProTour, following the signings of big cycling names Francisco Mancebo and Christophe Moreau. Fassa Bortolo's exit from the competition had freed a licence and AG2R was the only team left vying for the license, as Comunidad Valenciana voluntarily withdrew, while the proposed new team of former Fassa Bortolo sporting director Giancarlo Ferretti turned out to be without financial backing. Ag2r obtained success in the 2006 Tour de France with a stage win by Sylvain Calzati, and a day in the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification by Cyril Dessel.

Rinaldo Nocentini took the yellow jersey after stage 7 of the 2009 Tour de France after a successful breakaway in which fellow Ag2r-La Mondiale rider Christophe Riblon also took part and earned the daily combativity award. Nocentini retained the race leadership for eight stages, and Ag2r-La Mondiale also led the team classification from stage 7 to stage 11 and for one further day after stage 14.

In 2014, the team had great results at the Tour de France, winning a stage and having Jean-Christophe Péraud taking second place in the overall classification. In October of that year, it was announced that AG2R would continue to sponsor the team through 2018,[4] at the 2016 Tour de France the sponsorship was extended a further two years – into the 2020 season.[5]

In September 2020, the team signed a contract with BMC as their bike supplier from 2021 for three years. The team will also be known under the name AG2R Citroën Team from the 2021 season after the French car company announced that they had become the co-sponsor of the team.[6]

The team experienced further success during the 2021 Tour de France, when Tour debutant Ben O'Connor ascended to victory on Stage 9 in the Alpine village of Tignes.[7]

In November 2023, Decathlon was announced as the co-title sponsor of the team in a five-year deal. The team will be called Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale from 2024. Decathlon will also be replacing BMC as the bike supplier of the team, with the team using Decathlon's Van Rysel bikes with Shimano components. Citroën will stay on as the team's official car supplier.[8]

Doping

On 21 September 2012 Steve Houanard tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition test and was provisionally suspended.[9][10][11]

On 15 May 2013 Sylvain Georges tested positive for the banned stimulant Heptaminol and failed to start stage 11 of the 2013 Giro d'Italia.[12][13] Georges blamed the positive result on the freely available product 'Ginkor Fort' (made from Ginkgo biloba).[14] On 21 May Georges 'B Sample' also tested positive for the stimulant[15] causing the team to voluntarily remove itself from the 2013 Critérium du Dauphiné in accordance with MPCC rules.[16] As a result of the positive Georges was banned by the French Cycling Federation for 6 months.[17]

On 10 March 2015 the UCI announced that Lloyd Mondory had tested positive for EPO on 17 February in an out-of-competition test. As a result, Mondory was suspended pending the outcome of his B sample analysis.[18][19]

Team roster

Ben O'Connor at the 2022 Tour de France
As of 16 January 2024.[20]
Rider Date of birth
 Bruno Armirail (FRA) (1994-04-11) 11 April 1994 (age 29)
 Alex Baudin (FRA) (2001-05-25) 25 May 2001 (age 22)
 Clément Berthet (FRA) (1997-08-02) 2 August 1997 (age 26)
 Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) (1987-05-17) 17 May 1987 (age 36)
 Franck Bonnamour (FRA) (1995-06-20) 20 June 1995 (age 28)
 Geoffrey Bouchard (FRA) (1992-04-01) 1 April 1992 (age 31)
 Sam Bennett (IRL) (1990-10-16) 16 October 1990 (age 33)
 Benoît Cosnefroy (FRA) (1995-10-17) 17 October 1995 (age 28)
 Dries De Bondt (BEL) (1991-07-04) 4 July 1991 (age 32)
 Sander De Pestel (BEL) (1998-10-11) 11 October 1998 (age 25)
 Stan Dewulf (BEL) (1997-12-20) 20 December 1997 (age 26)
 Felix Gall (AUT) (1998-02-27) 27 February 1998 (age 26)
 Pierre Gautherat (FRA) (2003-01-16) 16 January 2003 (age 21)
 Dorian Godon (FRA) (1996-05-25) 25 May 1996 (age 27)
 Jaakko Hänninen (FIN) (1997-04-16) 16 April 1997 (age 26)
Rider Date of birth
 Jordan Labrosse (FRA) (2002-09-15) 15 September 2002 (age 21)
 Victor Lafay (FRA) (1996-01-17) 17 January 1996 (age 28)
 Paul Lapeira (FRA) (2000-02-25) 25 February 2000 (age 24)
 Oliver Naesen (BEL) (1990-09-16) 16 September 1990 (age 33)
 Ben O'Connor (AUS) (1995-11-25) 25 November 1995 (age 28)
 Aurélien Paret-Peintre (FRA) (1996-02-27) 27 February 1996 (age 28)
 Valentin Paret-Peintre (FRA) (2001-01-14) 14 January 2001 (age 23)
 Nans Peters (FRA) (1994-03-12) 12 March 1994 (age 30)
 Gianluca Pollefliet (BEL) (2002-01-28) 28 January 2002 (age 22)
 Nicolas Prodhomme (FRA) (1997-02-01) 1 February 1997 (age 27)
 Valentin Retailleau (FRA) (2000-06-18) 18 June 2000 (age 23)
 Damien Touzé (FRA) (1996-07-07) 7 July 1996 (age 27)
 Bastien Tronchon (FRA) (2002-03-29) 29 March 2002 (age 21)
 Andrea Vendrame (ITA) (1994-07-20) 20 July 1994 (age 29)
 Larry Warbasse (USA) (1990-01-28) 28 January 1990 (age 34)

Major wins

World & National champions

1997
French Road Race, Stéphane Barthe
Belgian Road Race, Marc Streel
1998
Estonian Road Race, Jaan Kirsipuu
Estonian Time Trial, Jaan Kirsipuu
1999
French Time Trial, Gilles Maignan
Estonian Time Trial, Jaan Kirsipuu
Estonian Road Race, Jaan Kirsipuu
2000
Estonian Road Race, Lauri Aus
Estonian Time Trial, Lauri Aus
2001
Estonian Time Trial, Jaan Kirsipuu
Belgian Road Race, Ludovic Capelle
2002
Estonian Road Race, Jaan Kirsipuu
Irish Road Race, Mark Scanlon
Estonian Time Trial, Jaan Kirsipuu
2003
Irish Road Race, Mark Scanlon
Estonian Time Trial, Jaan Kirsipuu
Spanish Time Trial, Inigo Bernardez
2004
Estonian Road Race, Erki Putstep
Estonian Time Trial, Jaan Kirsipuu
Ukrainian Time Trial, Yuriy Krivtsov
2006
Estonian Road Race, Erki Pütsep
2007
French Road Race, Christophe Moreau
2008
Estonian Time Trial, Tanel Kangert
Moldovan Road Race, Alexandre Pliușchin
2009
Irish Road Race, Nicolas Roche
2010
Swiss Road Race, Martin Elmiger
2012
Luxembourg Time Trial, Ben Gastauer
2014
Belarusian Road Race, Yauheni Hutarovich
2015
Canada Time Trial, Hugo Houle
2017
World U23 Road Race, Benoît Cosnefroy
French Time Trial, Pierre Latour
Belgian Road Race, Oliver Naesen
2018
Lithuania Road Race, Gediminas Bagdonas
Lithuania Time Trial, Gediminas Bagdonas
French Time Trial, Pierre Latour
2019
French Cyclo-cross, Clément Venturini
Lithuania Time Trial, Gediminas Bagdonas
2020
French Cyclo-cross, Clément Venturini
2021
French Cyclo-cross, Clément Venturini
2022
Luxembourg Time Trial, Bob Jungels

References

  1. ^ "Hung Up in Picardy, Hoping for Bigger Things". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 2007-08-20. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  2. ^ "Cycling team rolls on to the big time". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 2007-08-26. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  3. ^ "Histoire de l'equipe cycliste Ag2r Prevoyance". Ag2r non official supporters. Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  4. ^ "News shorts: AG2R renews through 2018, Androni on Kuota". Cyclingnews.com. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  5. ^ "AG2R la Mondiale extends sponsorship through 2020 - News Shorts".
  6. ^ Branquinho, Lance (14 September 2020). "AG2R Citroën team to ride BMC in 2021". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  7. ^ "Australian Ben O'Connor wins stage nine of the Tour de France, moves to second behind yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar".
  8. ^ Decathlon (2023-11-27). "DECATHLON x AG2R LA MONDIALE". Decathlon United. Archived from the original on 2023-12-18. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  9. ^ "Houanard provisionally suspended for EPO". Cyclingnews.com.
  10. ^ "Steve Houanard provisionally suspended after A-sample positive for EPO". velonation.com.
  11. ^ "Ag2r suspends Houanard after positive EPO test". VeloNews.com.
  12. ^ "Sylvain Georges positive for Heptaminol". Cyclingnews.com.
  13. ^ "Sylvain Georges returns positive A sample for Heptaminol, out of Giro d'Italia". velonation.com.
  14. ^ "Georges takes blame for positive doping control". Cyclingnews.com.
  15. ^ "Georges' B Sample also positive, UCI confirms". Cyclingnews.com.
  16. ^ Peter Cossins. "Ag2r confirm they won't ride Dauphiné". Cyclingnews.com.
  17. ^ "UCI wants Georges' ban extended to two years". Cyclingnews.com.
  18. ^ "Ag2r's Lloyd Mondory positive for EPO – VeloNews.com". VeloNews.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
  19. ^ "Mondory returns adverse analytical finding for EPO". Cyclingnews.com.
  20. ^ "Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team". UCI. Retrieved 6 January 2024.

External links