Vollering and Muzic: ‘That would be a dream for any manager to have two riders like this’ says FDJ-SUEZ boss

French team go from strength to strength at the Vuelta Femenina as Delcourt continues to build a powerhouse team for 2025

11:32, Monday 6th May 2024

Daniel Benson

Editor in Chief

Évita Muzic was closely matched with Demi Vollering at the Vuelta Femenina

FDJ-SUEZ may have missed out on a podium spot at the Vuelta Femenina, but there was much to admire about the French team’s performance after they claimed a stage through Évita Muzic and constantly took the race to eventual winner Demi Vollering and her SD Worx-Protime squad.

In an exclusive interview with GCN, FDJ-SUEZ boss Stephen Delcourt talked about the team’s Vuelta, their activity in the transfer market, links to Specalized for 2025 and the prospect of racing with both Muzic and Vollering onboard in 2025.

FDJ-SUEZ’s challenge at the Vuelta Femenina was hampered by poor positioning and bad luck on stage 3 when the team missed the cut in the echelons and Muzic lost ground on her GC rivals. However, the squad rallied in the second half of the race, with Muzic taking her second Grand Tour stage to add to the Giro one she claimed in 2020, and Grace Brown a constant thorn in SD Worx’s side with some blistering performances on the flat in the mountains.

“We had one bad day, when we lost Vittoria Guazzini and Marta Cavalli. Évita was in 25th position in the echelons and we lost that battle but we reacted well as a team and every stage we got stronger,” Delcourt told GCN from his team’s service course in France after a long journey home from Spain.

“We had a rider like Grace Brown to protect Évita, who was the first or second-best climber in the race. It was a big success for the team.”

Muzic’s continued trajectory as a Grand Tour leader continues apace with fifth overall on Sunday and first and second on the two major days in the mountains. But for the time lost in the crosswinds of stage 3, she was Vollering’s closest rival whenever the race went uphill and Delcourt is expecting the 24-year-old’s development to continue through the summer and into the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. There is a chance she rides the Giro d’Italia Women before that but any inclusion in Italy will be based around training and preparation for the Tour, rather than another GC assault.

“She’s improving a lot in all aspects, mentally, physically and on and off the bike. She arrived on the team in 2017 as a junior on a training camp and signed for us the next year so this has been a long-term project. We can now expect her to win in every Grand Tour because she won a stage in the Giro, now the Vuelta and then in the Tour de France as soon as possible, where she can be a GC rider. That’s the plan for her and the team,” Delcourt said.

FDJ’s saving Grace

While Muzic is tied to the team until the end of 2027, the future of Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner Grance Brown is far from certain with the 31-year-old out of contract this year and deciding to focus on the Paris Olympics and World Championships before deciding on her next steps. The Australian was immense in Spain, constantly setting the pace for the GC group and putting Muzic into a strong position on the final climbs.

Grace Brown was key to FDJ-SUEZ's success in Spain

“It’s impossible to imagine Grace in another jersey but she needs time to choose what she wants. She prepares to focus on the goals ahead. She won Liège and now she can focus on the Olympics and then Worlds,” Delcourt said.

According to the Frenchman, there’s a space on the roster for Brown in 2025 if she wishes to continue with the squad but he’s not intending to pressure his all-rounder into rushing a decision. The ball is firmly in her court at this point but Delcourt is well aware of her value, both on and off the bike and of the experience she brings to his squad.

“I can’t decide for her. She knows my position and I know hers. She doesn’t want pressure and she has a family in Australia. She spends a lot of time in Europe but she has a lot of freedom in the team. After the Vuelta she needs time to think about her future. There’s a spot for her if she wants to stay but I respect her need for more time. I want her happiness and I can’t control that. We love Grace Brown,” he said.

Transfer musical chairs

Retaining talent is just one aspect facing Delcourt with his team linked to a whole host of free agents in 2025. Top of that list is Demi Vollering, who according to several reports has already agreed on a multiple-year contract with the team. Delcourt would not entertain any form of clarification on the matter, instead pointing to the UCI regulations that entrust teams not to sign riders before August 1.

“All I can say is that I never imagined that the journalists would be so sure about the integration of Demi into our team project,” he said.

“That’s a big honour for the team but the best reply was from Évita who said that it caused a disruption in the team for a week in the Ardennes but after that, if she signed it was good but if she didn’t then we’re about to play with her. All is possible for the future but the most important thing is the team project,” he said.

The notion of housing both Vollering and Muzic in 2025 would be a mouthwatering prospect though, especially considering how the pair rode away from everyone else before Muzic took her Vuelta stage win on stage 6. Delcourt is fully aware of how important stability is, and he certainly won’t walk away from the long-term project that he and Muzic have established. She’s the present and future of French stage racing and for a French squad, it’s vital that her leadership is secured.

“I think every rider with big ambitions could align with the team project and Évita is one of our best projects for the future. French cycling needs a rider like Évita who can compete for the yellow jersey in the future,” he said.

Could Vollering and Muzic co-exist on the same team though?

“That would be a dream for any manager to have two riders like this,” admitted Delcourt.

“But everyone talks about the transfers really early but the reality is that no one signed between December and the Ardennes and this hasn’t been like other seasons. There have been a lot of meetings but during the Ardennes, there were no agents pushing, the Vuelta was quiet, and I think there are 11 riders without contracts for next season and there are still 11 riders who are still free.”

Specialized links

Rider recruitment and retention is just one aspect of Delcourt’s team building ahead of 2025. The Frenchman’s team has also been linked with a switch from Lapierre bikes to Specialized to coincide with the possible arrival of Vollering, who currently rides on Specialized at SD Worx.

Lapierre’s contract with FDJ-SUEZ is up for renewal this year and Delcourt did provide some insight into the situation.

“I’m in contact with Lapierre and I respect that. We will have discussions at the end of May with several partners who we are out of contract with Lapierre, Shimano and GOBIK. Lapierre wants to work with us though and we don’t tend to change a lot within the team. We want the best and we want to get better every year. We want to win the Monuments and the Grand Tours in women’s cycling and for that, we need the best,” he said.

When pressed as to whether he and Specialized had made contact, Delcourt said: “I know Specialized and it’s every team’s dream to have them. If you look at the world champions from the last ten years, across men’s and women’s cycling then Specialized is number one. They talk to all the big teams and all the big teams want Specialized."

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