Between two courses in mild Spain, the cyclists from the French group Groupama-FDJ made their media debut this Wednesday in Boulogne (Hauts-de-Seine). At the headquarters of their sponsor FDJ, Marc Madiot’s team left for a 29th season in the elite of the world peloton.
Despite the checkered results, the emergence of large, multi-millionaire, globalized teams and a generation of cannibalistic champions, the eternal manager leaves for another round with the same enthusiasm. “I have good feelings: the team is on the right track. I saw some great things at the first stage. We have a collective, with loyalty. And also some changes,” summarizes Marc Madiot.
Giro-Tour for Gaudu, Tour-Vuelta for Martin
Loyalty is, for example, David Gaudu. “After having struggled quite a bit” (65th in the 2024 Tour, he who aspired to the podium), the 28-year-old French climber leaves despite everything “much more serene this winter, after having finished the season like a cannonball” (6th in the Vuelta, winner at the Tour of Luxembourg). The Breton will still be the leader of the French team in 2025, with a new feature in his program: the Tour of Italy, which he will race for the first time in May.
“I have always heard good things about the Giro, having spoken about it with Thibault (Pinot). I can’t wait to find out, to aim for the best ranking, explains David Gaudu. This will allow me to arrive unloaded on the Tour de France (July 5-27), which I will approach differently this year. » That is to say, lightened only by the weight of the general.
This objective of ranking well in the yellow jersey ranking will in fact be shared with Guillaume Martin. The 31-year-old climber is back at FDJ, eleven years after completing a first internship there, and after notably five years at Cofidis. “It’s a new adventure, and a return to basics. At Cofidis, I was going in circles a bit, I needed a new challenge. Groupama FDJ seemed obvious. »
Guillaume Martin’s consistency in the grand tours (12 times in the top 15 in a final general classification) has won over the French team, which plans to make him progress further. The Norman will have a lighter start to the season, still with Paris-Nice and the Tour of the Basque Country, and should continue with the Criterium du Dauphiné in June and the Tour de France, of course, in July.
Especially since the Grande Boucle plans an arrival near his home, in Vire, in the first week. The cohabitation between Gaudu and Martin seems to satisfy the two climbers, long adversaries, but once teammates in the French team, at the Tokyo Olympics. “The goal: I win the Vire stage at home, and David wins the next day at home in Mûr-de-Bretagne,” smiles Guillaume Martin.
Grégoire and Madouas as classic and stage hunters
The rest of the team will chase victories all year long, according to Marc Madiot’s motto. For the sprints, it is carte blanche to the young Paul Penhoët (23 years old), who will benefit from the train of his teammates Clément Russo and Cyril Barthe, to try to grab his first big victory after several runners-up last year.
In the time trials, the Swiss Stefan Kung, with a new bike for the occasion, will be the trump card. On the adventurer side, Groupama-FDJ has two great cards. Valentin Madouas (28 years old), unforgettable silver medalist at the Paris Olympics this summer, will try to follow the best on the Flandrian and Ardennes classics, and is eagerly awaiting a first week of the Tour de France reserved for punchers.
With a similar profile, the young Romain Grégoire (21 years old) will try to confirm the hopes placed in him, and to do better than his first WorldTour victory (on the Tour of the Basque Country) in 2024 and his first discreet Tour de France . “I sometimes narrowly missed victory, like on the Dauphiné. Yet I have never felt so strong, assures the young man. I sinned out of impatience, but it should pay off in 2025.”