Groupama-FDJ

Despite retiring from professional cycling in 1994, Groupama-FDJ’s team manager Marc Madiot remains one of the team's stars. Clips of him barking out the team car window at riders on their way to victory while he smashes his fists against the car door have become as iconic as any wins his riders have achieved. 

Nowadays, the team are in the midst of a transition; Thibaut Pinot and Arnaud Démare, have moved on to retirement and Arkéa-B&B respectively, while the team is chock full of young phenoms like Lenny Martinez and Romain Grégoire. Elsewhere in the team, Stefan Küng has shown that he can do more than just time trial and Valentin Madouas has continued highlighting himself as the next great French hope for the Classics. Additionally, David Gaudu has shown that, on his day, he can be one of the best climbers in the world. 

Altogether, the strength of the roster was enough to power the team to a seventh-place finish in the UCI rankings in 2023. With these riders in the team's wheelhouse, Groupama-FDJ will look to continue to build into the new decade with new faces leading one of the longest-running teams in cycling.

Tech

Pro Bikes

Vuelta a España pro bike: Romain Grégoire’s Lapierre Xelius SL

Groupama-FDJ's bikes have a new colourway to go with the Xelius' unique seatstay design

Groupama-FDJ's Lapierre Xelius SL for the Vuelta a España

 has easily adapted to life at a higher level, flourishing in 2023 in his first full season as a WorldTour pro. The 20-year-old has caught the eye with his flamboyant riding style and, in a case of substance as well as style, has plenty of impressive results to show for it, including overall victories at 4 Jours de Dunkerque and the recent 

Despite still being only 20 years old, he’ll be one of the team’s big hopes at the 

, alongside fellow Frenchman Lenny Martinez, who took the red jersey on stage 6. Both riders lit up the under-23 scene and were stars in our 

. They’ll be hoping to translate some of that success to the Spanish Grand Tour, and they’ll partly be relying on the 

The Xelius SL is Lapierre’s climbing bike, sitting alongside the aero-focussed Aircode DRS, and for the Vuelta they’ve all received a new colourway. Formerly an all-purple design, the colourway has been tweaked rather than revamped with blue across the top tube and seatstays. It’s a familiar shade that mirrors the team’s kit.

Looking beyond the colourway, the Xelius is one of the more eye-catching bikes in the peloton thanks to its unique seatstay design. These don’t connect to the seat tube, instead routing around it before linking up with the top tube. It’s a familiar sight, with a version first appearing on the bike in 2016. According to Lapierre, the design “disperses the vibrations in the zone between the two support points (saddle and handlebars); frees the seat tube which gains in flexibility on all its length; and it lightens the bike with the use of carbon fibre in an area with low mechanical constraint”.

 whose components make up a big chunk of Grégoire’s bike, including the Dura-Ace groupset. Shimano is by far the most dominant groupset brand in the pro peloton, sponsoring a majority of WorldTour teams, and that in turn makes Dura-Ace the most used groupset. In Grégoire’s case this is in the form of a fairly standard 54/40t drivetrain and 11-34t cassette. We’re increasingly seeing cassettes with wider ranges like this used at pro level. This set-up will change throughout the race as the demands of the race change.

Alongside the groupset, Shimano’s Dura-Ace C50s are the wheels of choice. We encountered Grégoire’s bike before the first road stage, a rolling route in and around Barcelona on the second day, and the C50s provide a nice balance between light weight and aerodynamics for such a parcours.

Beyond Shimano, Prologo is the other dominant brand, providing the Scratch M5 saddle and white bar tape.

To keep up to date with all the tech latest news from the last Grand Tour of the season, head over to our Tech page, linked 

Stefan Küng

Lenny Martinez

Valentin Madouas

Laurence Pithie

Romain Grégoire

David Gaudu

Paul Penhoët

Lewis Askey

Quentin Pacher

Rémy Rochas

Rudy Molard

Kevin Geniets

Marc Sarreau

Sam Watson

Sven Erik Bystrøm

Olivier Le Gac

Reuben Thompson

Thibaud Gruel

Ignatas Konovalovas

Enzo Paleni

Eddy Le Huitouze

Fabian Lienhard

Lars van den Berg

Clément Davy

Lorenzo Germani

Cyril Barthe

Clément Russo

Matthew Walls

Racing

Features

Racing Features

'Thibaut is God for us' – Spending a day with the Collectif Ultras Pinot at Il Lombardia

An otherwise nondescript bend on La Boccola becomes Curva Pinot for the day, appropriately draped in sun, smiles and singing

‘Thibaut Pinot is God for us’ – Spending a day with the Collectif Ultras Pinot at Il Lombardia

"Laissez passer les coureurs, faites de la place!” That’s the plea that echoes around La Boccola, as the world's best riders thunder through the ancient streets of Bergamo – "please let the riders through, make some room!"

 is in its final knockings and these megaphone-clad supporters, under the strict supervision of the Italian police, have been instructed to try and keep their masses at arm's length from the riders. But their task will soon be made impossible.

Cowbells ring out, black and white scarves flurry through the air, and a cloud of red, blue and white smoke engulfs the final climb of the season’s final Monument. The frontrunners may have passed through, but the headline act has yet to appear.

No longer is there a racing line to follow. In fact, you can't even make out the tarmac beneath the thousands of feet that now swamp the course. This is no longer about the race, but about one man. He’s about to round the bend that has been momentarily renamed in his honour, so large is the crowd of his supporters that adorn its banking.

Chants announce his imminent arrival. An ecstatic roar of emotion echoes up the hillside and, all of a sudden, the crowd floods into the centre of the road. With a push in the back and an arm around the shoulder from a friendly neighbour, we enter the troupe. A flash of blue lycra catches the eye amongst the rabble and, from within, a smile emerges.

A rider like no other, and a supporters’ club like no other

 is a cyclist like no other. He managed to produce some of the finest performances seen from a French cyclist in generations, and captured the hearts and minds of thousands along the way. And yet, in the record books, the 33-year-old will go down as someone who never quite lived up to his initial expectations.

 stage winner at 22, podium finisher at 24 and a man seemingly destined to become France’s first winner of the Grande Boucle since Bernard Hinault in 1985, Pinot never finished on another podium of a Grand Tour. But for all the setbacks and injuries that came to define his later career, one thing remained constant for the man from the Franche-Comté - the unwavering support of a fanbase whose passion is unrivalled and practically unprecedented in modern cycling.

 is a supporters’ club like no other. Born out of a WhatsApp group, the Ultras dreamt of becoming to Pinot what the Collectif Ultra Paris is to Paris Saint Germain in football. It is with this group of passionate football supporters that Pinot himself chooses to watch PSG games, rather than sit in a hospitality box.

With their smoke flares, chants and communal spirit, the Collectif Ultras Pinot are unmissable on the side of the road and have brought a taste of football fandom to cycling, all in the name of supporting one of France’s favourite sons.

There are around 2,500 of them on the roadsides of Bergamo for Pinot’s final hurrah, Il Lombardia, the last race of a 14-year career. This comes just a few months after their presence on the Petit Ballon at the Tour de France brought a tear to many an eye, and only a few years after their birth as Pinot’s official fan club.

But despite the group’s relative youth, it embodies the legion of (mostly) French fans who have followed Pinot across the world throughout his career, providing the battle cry to his most famous wins and the warm embrace of sympathy after his most crushing downfalls.

9:30am, and the first chants of “chalalalalalala Thibaut Pinot” ring out. It’s a song that’ll be sung thousands of times before the day is done.

Via planes, trains and automobiles, fans of Thibaut Pinot have travelled from all corners of Europe to congregate in the historic Lombard city of Bergamo. The ancient streets of La Boccola in the old town will be the designated meeting point for the second coming of Curva Pinot/Virage Pinot/Pinot Corner. But it’s in the Piazza della Libertà in downtown Bergamo where, with the sun barely in the sky, the festivities are beginning, many hours before the race will speed through these streets.

The majority of those hardy souls ringing in the day to a chorus of drums and orchestrated chants were French, of course, but not all.

“We came yesterday from Switzerland,” reveal Sebastian and Honorine, a lovely couple whose passion for Pinot had them ensconced firmly within the throngs of Ultras. “It is four and a half hours by train, but we missed our connection in Milan because our train was late! It took a long time but we finally made it and we are here today.”

Cancellations and delays were among the travel woes suffered by 

via shoddy coaches, airport boozers and budget airlines

, but such difficulties were never going to stop the Pinot faithful from touching down in Lombardy’s fourth-largest city.

“It was a long story,” says Bertrand, the father of two young members of the CUP, when asked about his travels. His sons, Mateo and Lilian, had travelled from Grenoble and Paris, but not without their own troubles. “My son’s flight was cancelled, we were in Milan waiting for him, so he moved to a flight to Turin. We took a rental car to drive to Turin last night and dragged him here. It was never an option to leave him behind – we are a family!”

Such was the love felt not just for Pinot, but for one another, it felt as though the Collectif Ultras Pinot were one big family, at least for a day.

Leaving the Piazza della Libertà behind, the group party all the way to La Boccola. What would normally be a 25-minute walk takes the masses nigh-on three hours to complete. Along the way lie plenty of ‘regroupements’ and more than the occasional sleepy resident awoken from their slumber by the chorus of “chalalalalalala Thibaut Pinot”.

Out swing the hinges of their wooden shutters, with sleepy-eyed locals yearning to discover what hubbub had caused such disturbance. Beneath the cloud of coloured smoke, they meet eyes with the hundreds of French fans who are travelling on a wave of euphoria that had begun hours or days in advance. For them, sleep was not an option; all clocks point to 4:30pm and the arrival of the race onto La Boccola.

“We left yesterday evening at 7pm and we arrived at 7am this morning,” laughed a sleep-deprived but cheery woman named Stella. “From Dijon, down to Toulouse, Montpellier and then Grenoble through to Italy. There was no way we were going to miss this.”

1000km from Dunkirk, 600km from Épinal, 500km from the Franche-Comté… the tales of lengthy car journeys continued to roll in, but for some, the anticipation of what was to come – Pinot’s final race – was simply too much.

“It took six hours driving all through the night from Lyon, and I didn’t sleep,” admits a gentleman named Antony. “I cannot speak much more because I cried too much already, it should be incredibly special.”

‘This is not a robo from Jumbo: Thibaut is human, with pain and feelings’

People like Pinot because he is human – not in a literal sense, but a philosophical one. From Poitiers to Grenoble, the travel tales were individual, but the reason behind the journeys remained a constant: admiration, support and love for Pinot.

“It is a natural connection,” remarks Bertrand’s son, Lilian. “When we go out on our bike, we can feel like Thibaut, we are acting like him, with our mouths open, swinging from side to side.” At this point, Bertrand pitches in and contrasts Pinot with other stars of modern cycling, something that becomes a theme with many of the supporters throughout the course of the day.

“It is very different to Jonas Vingegaard. He is a machine, whereas Pinot is human. Vingegaard always wins – it does not interest me.”

Pinot’s vulnerability stands him apart from the superstars of the 2020s, who display an unnerving sense of invincibility that rather cruelly makes them less than favourable in the eyes of supporters. The supremacy of Vingegaard – who has looked unbeatable at the Tour de France over the last two seasons – offers the perfect contrast with a rider like Pinot.

The Frenchman’s career has been one of major highs and devastating lows. For every high, there seemed to be a low, and vice versa, There have been viruses, which prematurely ended his 2016 season, pneumonia, which put paid to his hopes of finishing on the podium of the 2018 Giro d’Italia, mysterious injuries, like the one that robbed him of a golden opportunity to win the 2019 Tour de France and, in recent years, crippling back pains, which have prevented him from returning to his swashbuckling best.

But for all the tears, aches and pains along the way, Pinot’s fans have chosen to suffer through each misfortune alongside their hero, and in their eyes, each defeat has only made him more relatable, more likeable and more inspirational.

“I love him because he teaches everybody that every time you fall, you do not give up,” notes Fabio, a resident of Como who helped the Ultras organise their trip,

“He teaches you to challenge yourself, and be better and try again. Because the second time, maybe it is better, maybe it is not, but the third time, maybe it is better, maybe it is not, or the fourth time… you always have to try.”

“He is a romantic cyclist,” add Grégoire and Thibaut from Normandy. “Whether it be wins or losses, we cannot be disappointed. He is like me on a bike, when he loses, we can relate to him. He is a human cyclist with emotions, this is not a robo [robot] from Jumbo!

“This is a real man with feelings, with pain, you can see when he is on the pedals, you can see his face, his expressions, his struggles… He communicates his emotions – that is Thibaut.”

From Matthieu Ladagnous to a classroom of school kids, Pinot’s faithful arrive at La Boccola

We finally arrive at La Boccola, the final climb of Il Lombardia. Friends, family and fans of Pinot merge as one. There is no hierarchy here, only an emotional coming together of a people united by one man.

Groupama-FDJ team boss Marc Madiot makes a tearful visit, Pinot’s older brother and coach Julien appears donning one of the team’s celebratory t-shirts, and loyal teammate Matthieu Ladagnous finds himself amongst the cheerful – just days after ending his own career.

“This is impressive,” Ladagnous says. “Thibaut is special, he had a different connection with the fans, so I’m liking it too.”

There is a sense that Ladagnous had been waiting until Pinot retired before he also left the sport, such is the bond between the pair. Jeremy Roy, Antoine Duchesne and Kévin Réza are among the other former riders who could not resist supporting their friend out on the road.

As the hours pass by on La Boccola, the party only increases in volume as people begin to settle into their positions. Such a task is a difficult one, however, with the Ultras’ conductors whipping the crowd into a jumping frenzy every few minutes.

Flags are handed out, t-shirts are brandished, and scarves are raised once more. A Pinot take on Ricchi e Poveri’s ‘Sarà perché ti amo’ is the latest chant to ring out from the crowd, young and old. There is no age limit here, each youngster has a learned mind and a story to tell.

“Someone in our school class called Clement told us that we should come, because we are Thibaut Pinot fans,” reveal a group of school kids from Grenoble. Valentin, Timothée, Frin, Victor and François are among those we grab a word with, but 11 of their classmates have also made the six-hour journey. They may be younger than those who have been enjoying the local Italian ale all day, but their resonance with Pinot rings a familiar tune.

“The French really believe in Pinot because he is human, and people can feel like him.”

“Pogačar a une minute d'avance, Pinot marche fort et il arrive à Bergame,” bellows one of the conductors from his megaphone. “Thibaut est là dans quelques instants!” A rough paraphrase amounts to “Pogačar is one minute ahead, Pinot has ridden strongly and is going to make it to Bergamo. Thibaut is going to be here any minute!”

With this, an already excitable situation bubbles to sheer rapture. The polizia municipale mount a futile attempt to contain the encroachment and the drummers begin to pound their beat with aplomb. “Chalalalalalala, Thibaut Pinot,” is the rallying cry once more as the frontrunners make their way through the crowd. Pogačar, Carlos Rodríguez, Aleksandr Vlasov… one by one, those names ahead of Pinot on the road pass by, but the anticipation only intensifies.

Each passing rider and car travels under an impromptu archway of ‘Merci Thibaut’ flags, with the Groupama-FDJ team cars reduced to a crawling pace as the masses swamp every window to offer up their gratitude.

Their rider’s arrival is announced by the euphony of cheers that erupt from the bottom of the hillside and carry all the way up to the top, bouncing off the surrounding buildings.

Pinot swings his way into Curva Pinot, a right-hand bend that is awash with supporters. Some are on their knees, overcome with emotion, some are perched on a nearby lamppost to survey the scene, and others are arm-in-arm with their new-found family. Each of them wears a smile that is matched by the man on the bike. Rounding the bend, Pinot probably can’t believe his own eyes and ears as he is encircled by the masses.

By the time he reaches our position, any possibility of him pedalling uninterrupted is gone. Instead, Pinot is carried up La Boccola for a moment, handed from fan to fan, lifted to immortality – a hero for generations to come.

For all Pinot is slowed down by the crowds, it’s all over very quickly. In the blink of an eye, he’s gone, and within 10 minutes, he would cross the finish line in downtown Bergamo to end his career.

But for his fans, the memories from Saturday 7 October 2023 will last a lifetime. From Dunkirk to Denmark, they ventured to Bergamo, and from young to old, their motivations remained simple: to honour a cyclist who became a kindred spirit.

“Thibaut is God for us,” beams Frank, who has driven 10 hours along with his son Noah and friend Saaed. “I think tonight he may cry… it was beautiful to see him smile through the corner.”

For all the memories that Pinot has given to his fans throughout the years – not least his victory at the 2018 Il Lombardia (arguably the greatest of his career) – this was his fans’ opportunity to offer up a memory of their own, and boy did they deliver.

“I didn’t plan on being the most fervent fan on the Curva Pinot,” admits 

 en Francais writer Antoine Maret - who joined us in Bergamo. “But on the spot, we received a shot of adrenaline, the crowds were chanting, and we felt taken by the whirlwind. In the end, I had a broken voice.”

Given the deafening cascade of cheers that whisked Pinot up the road, Antoine won’t be alone on that front. The moment had arrived and it felt euphoric.

Not since Raymond Poulidor has a French cyclist been adored by so many, though for Pinot, Il Lombardia simply marked the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. Not one to bask in the acclaim, he would be seen go-karting with friends just days later, and little has been heard from him since.

As for his supporters, they filtered off La Boccola to head into the Bergamo evening, or to begin their long journeys back home, safe in the knowledge they had done what they came to do.

News

Race News

Groupama FDJ and Wilier Triestina reveal all-new team bikes for 2024 

 have offically revealed the livery that will adorn their 

 in 2024. The team announced late last year that after a 23-year tenure with Lapierre than team would be moving over to the Italian bike brand Wilier Triestina for 2024.

The team will be using the brand's all-round bike the Filante SLR with Shimano’s Dura-ace Di2 groupset and wheels to complete the build. The paint scheme for the bike is a transition away from what we have become accustomed to seeing the team use in recent years. The 2024 livery is a mostly white affair with finishing blue flourishes and logos.

Wilier Triestina confirmed as new Groupama-FDJ bike sponsor

The colour scheme has been created to symbolise both the colours of Groupama-FDJ and that of the French flag representing the home nation of the team.

This partnership marks Wilier's second WorldTour team partnership with Groupama FDJ joining 

 as a sponsored team. They will have the Filante SLR at their disposal for road duties and will be using the Turbine SLR for time trials.

2024 Men's WorldTour bikes: A guide to the bikes, groupsets, and tech of the top-tier teams

Upon the announcement of the partnership team director Marc Madiot said: “The spirit of all our technical partnerships is to develop together and use our respective expertise to move up the range, and that's what appealed to us about Wilier Triestina's approach. Together, we're going to write a new page in the history of Groupama-FDJ cycling Team and showcase these new machines on the road from the very first day of the 2024 season.”

Could this hint at fresh product developments in the works from Wilier? Only time will tell.

Are you a fan of the simplistic livery the team will be using for 2024 or are you more excited by the more exuberant colourways of teams like 

? Let us know in the comments section below.

Analysis

Groupama-FDJ Team Talk: Rebuilding with success, but can the momentum continue?

Thibaut Pinot's departure was one of the main talking points of Groupama-FDJ's season

 is officially in a new era. Gone are the two stalwarts that have been the main breadwinners. Out the door is 

. What is left is the new core of Groupama-FDJ, revolving around 

Nevertheless, even with the sea changes at Groupama-FDJ, it is still firmly a French team piloted by the ultimate French director, Marc Madiot. With his longtime muse Thibaut Pinot out of the peloton and to his goats in the mountains of the Alsace, it is a new era at FDJ, even if the traditional team will almost certainly retain its traditional French ethos.

That is not to say the team has not been able to match, to some degree, the increase in competition from the non-traditional cycling set-ups. In terms of UCI points and the high-tech business of time trialling, they have been towards the front half of the WorldTour. Last year, their ranking was seventh. To put that in perspective, there are four WorldTour teams registered in France and the next best team is Cofidis, all the way down in 14th with 4,000 fewer UCI points to their tally.

For a team firmly in a rebuilding phase, Groupama-FDJ is in control of its own destiny and will likely remain in front of the relegation scrum. However, with Gaudu being a strong option at the Tour de France even if he is not a top-flight contender, the question is how high Groupama-FDJ can get in their next, post-Pinot phase.

For a French team with primarily French leaders, the focus of the season is normally on the biggest French races: Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de France, with a lesser but pronounced emphasis on the French Cup races that dot the calendar and offer a hefty haul of UCI points.

FDJ, however, has grown to have a knack for the Italian races as well, with solid results in the Giro, Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo and the autumn Classics. Plus, with a couple of strong Classics riders, they really have their bases covered around the world and across the cycling calendar. Yet, by all accounts, the buck stops in France.

At the first big French race of this year, all signs were pointing up at the onset with David Gaudu and Paris-Nice. The year had started in an odd way for the team with Gaudu and Arnaud Démare publicly feuding after tension at a training camp, but by the time March rolled around tempers seemed tamed as Paris-Nice marked the first real objective of Gaudu’s season.

Duly, at the 'race to the sun', Gaudu delivered. While he could not quite match Tadej Pogačar’s scintillating form in the mountains, Gaudu anticipated the action on the crucial first stage where Pogačar crushed the rest of his competition, including Jonas Vingegaard. 

He attacked at the bottom of the climb and was able to hang onto Pogačar’s coattails when he inevitably caught the Frenchman. While he bled bits of time throughout the rest of the race, Gaudu was still able to stick within a minute of the Slovenian and finish ahead of Vingegaard in second place overall.

Lewis Askey and the leaner man in the mirror

In the spring, there were a couple of other bright points in the French team, most notably from the young French talents Lenny Martinez and Romain Grégoire. Both riders were highly touted U23 riders who were a part of the extremely successful Groupama-FDJ development team. Both riders came in and started performing at the WorldTour right away, highlighted by an eighth place at Strade Bianche with Grégoire.

Paired with Gaudu’s Paris-Nice and Thibaut Pinot’s stellar Tour de France, the spring was high time for the team, even if Valentin Madouas and Stefan Küng came up a bit short in the Classics.

Where the team really came up wanting was around the Tour de France. It started before the race even began, with an on-form Arnaud Démare left off the team in favour of below-average climbing domestiques for David Gaudu, who was far off his Paris-Nice form in the Dauphiné. Not only did that choice knee-cap the team for the Tour, it also irreconcilably ended Démare’s relationship with the team and sent him into the open arms of Arkea in a mid-season transfer.

Predictably, the team’s Tour did not live up to the promise of 2022. While Gaudu was ninth overall, and Pinot put on some sparkling performances in a few stages, a ninth place in the GC and no wins was not what the team came for. They must have had their sights higher and unquestionably fell short.

Bretagne Classic: An emotional Valentin Madouas wins in a three-up sprint

Nevertheless, the team rebounded in the closing stages of the season with a WorldTour one-day win for Valentin Madouas in the Bretagne Classic, a stint in red for Lenny Martinez at the Vuelta and a near miss for Lewis Askey at Paris-Tours. With that mixed scorecard, Groupama-FDJ can take budding confidence into the next couple of seasons, with fresh talent, even if lessons should be learned from 2023.

While a 6/10 might seem low for a team ranked seventh in the world, their seventh place is a relatively soft one. Beyond Paris-Nice, their French campaign was full of misses, with the most celebrated moments coming from a rider who was on his swan song and not from memorable wins. The bright spots in the team's young talent are undeniable, but so too was the mismanagement of the season in a number of ways.

Groupama-FDJ's Top Five in 2024

Where Groupama-FDJ's wins will come in 2024

While Thibaut Pinot contributed throughout his final season, Groupama-FDJ is now firmly moved onto new focuses, and the various young riders in their midst shows the future is going to be largely about youth, though there are some notable older riders who will be the core of the team. 

Lapierre and Groupama-FDJ split after 22 years of collaboration

Stefan Küng will, once again, chase victories time trials and the Classics, with there-or-there about results in both types of racing in 2023. With the Olympics on the horizon, there is another goal to focus on, but it will be a challenge as always, with new, talented riders coming into the fray every year. David Gaudu will also be hoping to run it back to his Paris-Nice form and make a run at the Tour podium, once again.

Nevertheless, Groupama-FDJ will be absolutely looking towards their slew of young riders to step up to the status as winners. The primary of those young names are Lenny Martinez and Romain Grégoire, but they'll also look to the handful of British and Australian riders who are now on the team. Three riders in particular come to mind who will all be hoping to find that breakout win: Lewis Askey, Laurence Pithie and Sam Watson. New arrival and British sprinter Matt Walls will also be one to watch as they look to fill the sprinting gap Démare has left.

Lastly, a lot of eyes will be on French champion Valentin Madouas to make another jump in tough one-day racing, building on his podium finish at the 2022 Tour of Flanders.

Although he was mentioned earlier, and has some success already, Romain Grégoire seems primed to take a huge leap in 2024. The explosive Frenchman already has 11 UCI wins to his name, all before his 21st birthday, and seems bound to add to that tally next year. 

Clearly, Grégoire has a nose for racing and a rider profile that already resembles a young Alaphilippe. One more year of physical development, for someone who is so young, should lead to fascinating results.

In reality, Grégoire is one of 10 under-23 riders on the WorldTour team next year. A number of those riders could hit and turn out results at different points in the calendar in 2024, but our bet is that Grégoire will lead that group and will likely get the chance to lead Groupama-FDJ to victory in some smaller races. 

What do you think of Groupama-FDJ's 2023 season? Will their commitment to young riders pay off in 2024? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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Name	Age	UCI Career Wins	UCI Points
Stefan Küng	30	34	1922
Lenny Martinez	20	8	1722
Valentin Madouas	27	8	1636
Laurence Pithie	21	5	1294
Romain Grégoire	21	12	1282

Groupama-FDJ

Groupama-FDJ

The Team

Team Bikes

Vuelta a España pro bike: Romain Grégoire’s Lapierre Xelius SL

Top Groupama-FDJ Stories

'Thibaut is God for us' – Spending a day with the Collectif Ultras Pinot at Il Lombardia

Groupama FDJ and Wilier Triestina reveal all-new team bikes for 2024

Groupama-FDJ Team Talk: Rebuilding with success, but can the momentum continue?

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