The AG2R LA MONDIALE cycling team was officially presented today in Paris at the headquarters of team sponsor AG2R LA MONDIALE and provided an overview of its recruitment and goals for the 2016 season as well as reviewing its 2015 season.

The AG2R LA MONDIALE team continues to have full confidence in all of its leading riders and has been strengthened in preparation for the spring classics. Jesse Sergent, the 2012 Olympic medallist in the team pursuit and the team’s first New Zealander, will be boosting the Cobbled Classics group. He will be joining riders like Johan Vansummeren (winner of the Paris – Roubaix 2011), Sébastien Turgot, Damien Gaudin and Alexis Gougeard, who was part a more than 200km breakaway last year at his first participation in l’Enfer du Nord.

French rider Cyril Gautier will be bringing his excellent skills as a puncheur and a strong sense of team spirit. He, Romain Bardet, Alexis Vuillermoz, Domenico Pozzovivo, and Jan Bakelants will form an ambitious team on the hills of the Ardennes. 

François Bidard will be the eighth rider on the current roster coming from the Chambéry Cyclisme Formation programme.

Furthermore, Alexis Gougeard, one of the most promising young French riders, has already extended his contract through 2018.

“The AG2R LA MONDIALE team provides me with the ideal conditions to help me to develop as a rider,” says Gougeard.
 

The AG2R LA MONDIALE team had a prolific 2015 season with 24 victories. Ten riders, a third of the team’s members, celebrated successful performances over the course of the season, including: 

• Domenico Pozzovivo in the 3rd stage of the Volta a Catalunya. 

• Alexis Vuillermoz as a puncheur during the 8th stage of the Tour de France. 

• Romain Bardet after his solo breaks in the 5th stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné and the 18th stage of the Tour de France. 

• Alexis Gougeard during his first Grand Tour, in the 19th stage of the Vuelta a Espana.

“With 24 victories in 2015, we got very close to breaking the record for the AG2R LA MONDIALE team," CEO Vincent Lavenu said. "Looking back over the 2015 season, I am reminded of the fighting spirit of our riders, who held their heads high even in difficult situations like during the Tour de France. 

"Romain Bardet, for example, won a magnificent stage on our own Savoie soil. I’ll also remember Alexis Vuillermoz’s explosive attack, which earned him a victory in the 8th stage of the Tour de France and confirmed him as one of the world’s best puncheurs. The spirit of solidarity amongst the team members was a driving force over the course of the season.”

The AG2R LA MONDIALE team was back at work in November with a training camp in the Oisans mountains. In mid-December, the whole team came together to put in some road time under the Spanish sun. 

Following the successful 2015 season, Vincent Lavenu is looking to continue the team’s progress while remaining true to its values. “The 2015 season was very intense. It was a thrill to watch our talented young recruits blooming and our leaders asserting themselves. With just three new recruits this year, we will be continuing the work that we’ve been doing over the past seasons.

"During the off-season, we also strengthened and restructured the team’s coaching staff in order to better help our riders reach peak performance. For our 25th season, we hope to take things to a new level while continuing to move in the same direction, all with passion and humility,” says Lavenu.

For the 2016 season, the team has announced the following numbers:

1 new managing director, Philippe Chevalier, working alongside team CEO Vincent Lavenu. 

3 new changes to the riders’ FOCUS bikes : Continental tires, ZIPP handlebars and stems, and SRAM RED eTap equipment for the entire team. 
4 coaches for the 2015 season, including Jean-Baptiste Quiclet (performance director), Nicolas Guillé, Mickaël Bouget and Samuel Bellenoue.
7 bicycles per rider: five road bikes and two time trial bikes
8 riders coming from the Chambéry Cyclisme Formation programme, including Romain Bardet, Guillaume Bonnafond, Pierre-Roger Latour, Julien Bérard, Ben Gastauer, Axel Domont, Nico Denz (as of 1 August 2015) and François Bidard. 

8 nations are represented on the team’s roster: France, Belgium, Italy, Canada, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Germany, and for the first time New Zealand. 

12 seasons on the team for Christophe Riblon. 

25th season for the team, which was created in 1992

30 riders on the AG2R LA MONDIALE team roster. . 274 days of racing planned for 2016, starting with the Tour de San Luis (18-24 January) and ending with Paris Tours (9 October). 

AG2R LA MONDIALE has sponsored the team since 1997. This solid partnership is scheduled to continue through 2018. The German cycling company FOCUS is beginning its fourth year of collaboration with the AG2R LA MONDIALE team. For the fifth year running, the helmet company EKOI will be equipping the riders. 

The Finnish brand One Way is the team’s new clothing sponsor. The SRAM group is increasing its support this year. In addition to providing drivetrains and power meters (Quarq), the bicycles will be equipped with Zipp wheels, as well as handlebars and stems made by the American brand. Continental is the new tire sponsor for the 2016 season.