TotalEnergies

Dries van Gestel

Mathieu Burgaudeau

Jason Tesson

Sandy Dujardin

Steff Cras

Emilien Jeannière

Anthony Turgis

Peter Sagan

Geoffrey Soupe

Pierre Latour

Valentin Ferron

Julien Simon

Paul Ourselin

Fabien Doubey

Jérémy Cabot

Thomas Bonnet

Maciej Bodnar

Lorrenzo Manzin

Edvald Boasson-Hagen

Victor De La Parte

Alexis Vuillermoz

Lucas Boniface

Mattéo Vercher

Lucas Grolier

Fabien Grellier

Alan Jousseaume

Daniel Oss

Alessio Cialone

Tech

News

Tech News

ENVE bikes enter pro peloton with TotalEnergies partnership

TotalEnergies will ride the ENVE Melee for the next two seasons

TotalEnergies have announced that they will ride 

 bikes in 2024, having been partnered with 

ENVE, a Utah-based brand best known for its carbon fibre wheels, will be supplying bikes, wheels and cockpits for the French ProTeam for at least two seasons. 

The American brand is already present in the pro peloton, providing UAE Team Emirates and Team Polti Kometa with wheels and cockpits. The partnership with TotalEnergies marks a big step up for the brand, which only started producing complete bikes this year.

For TotalEnergies, ENVE will be replacing Specialized as the team’s bike partner, with the Specialized partnership ending with Peter Sagan’s retirement from road racing at the end of 2023.

“We already knew their wheels and it made us very curious,” Jean-René Bernaudeau, Team TotalEnergies Manager, said in a press release. “In October we were in discussions with their engineers at the team headquarters and our technicians and riders were impressed by the responsiveness of ENVE.

“I am delighted to associate our team with this innovative brand. We have many things to learn from their structure and we have the same motivation to get great results through important R&D work. This collaboration between our two companies will contribute to future victories.”

The team will race on the ENVE Melee road bike, which was first rolled out to consumers this summer. 

While it is the first and only road bike offered by the brand, the company is one of the most well-known wheel manufacturers in the world. Thus, in tandem with the frames and cockpit set-ups, TotalEnergies will have the full complement of ENVE SES wheels at their disposal.

“Having the opportunity to partner with TotalEnergies, a team with so much history in the sport, is an honour for us,” Mike Stimola, General Manager of ENVE, said. “We've earned a reputation as the leader in wheel and component technology, and to now add ENVE bicycles to the professional peloton with TotalEnergies is an important step as a performance brand.

“We are always proud to see our products used at the highest level of the sport, in the biggest races, and this collaboration will allow us to introduce ENVE the bicycle brand to a far-reaching audience.”

To find out what bikes and components the WorldTour will be using this year, check out 

our full breakdown of the 2024 line-up on the website

Racing

Interviews

Peter Sagan: I want to finish with mountain biking and finally enjoy something in cycling

Peter Sagan made sure to walk around Singapore's Fountain of Wealth three times to bring himself good luck for 2024

) bid farewell to professional road racing with a ninth-place finish and a spirited performance. It was to be his last outing in the professional peloton, but ever the mover and shaker, it certainly would not mark a moment of respite for the three-time world champion. 

Instead, Sagan has since been seen lining up at the 

 Criteriums in Singapore and Japan, presenting the Flandrien of the Year Award to 

 in Belgium, and will soon be fulfilling sponsorship obligations in Chile over the 'off-season'. 

Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome and Peter Sagan defeated in rickshaw relay

The word off-season, however, does not hold all too much relevancy for Sagan, who is a hustler like no other in the peloton. For more than a decade, he was cycling's pre-eminent superstar, and whilst his crown as one of the world's best cyclists has somewhat slipped in the past few years, he continues to be a major attraction for his numerous sponsors, such as 

Now 33 years of age, Sagan announced earlier in the season that the 2023 campaign would be his last as a professional road cyclist, but in true Sagan spirit, the 

 certainly won't be the last we see of the Slovakian, with his eyes turned instead to mountain biking and a spot at the Paris Olympics next summer. 

For the time being, Sagan is looking forward to stepping off the conveyor belt that is life as a WorldTour rider and is enthused by the challenges that lie ahead of him in a discipline of cycling that has evaded him for much of the last 15 years. 

Tour de France Prudential Singapore Criterium

spoke exclusively with Sagan to find out why now was the right time to pull the curtain down on his professional road career and discover the Slovakian's thoughts on his return to mountain biking. 

I am tired of the circus that goes around professional cycling, admits Peter Sagan

In a career that has spanned 14 years, Sagan's palmarès reads like few others', with three World Championships to his name, seven Tour de France green jerseys and an array of other achievements. He has not, however, been able to remain a winning machine until his final pedalstroke, with Sagan's last major victory coming at the 

The five victories that made Peter Sagan unforgettable

Some riders retire at the top of their game, with the world of sport at their feet. Alberto Contador, for example, retired at the end of 2017 having won the final mountain stage of the Vuelta a España. Others remain riding long after their peak simply for the joy of the sport, think of 

 despite the lingering effects of a 2019 crash that brought an end to his time at the top. 

'I feel five years younger' – Chris Froome ready to take on 2024 with fresh motivation

For Sagan, however, he is neither retiring at his peak nor stepping away completely after many years of anonymous performances. Rather, the Slovakian has decided to call time on his professional road career and turn his attention towards tuning his body for the Paris Olympics next summer. 

"The thing is, I am already 14 years into my professional cycling career," noted Sagan. "I am a little bit tired of that and all the circus that is going around it. Every year it is the same, and new guys are coming and I don’t want to say I am not motivated anymore, I just want to say that I think my time has come."

The passing of time is a cruel mistress in any walk of life and the departure of Sagan from road cycling's elite level will certainly mark a moment of reflection for a certain generation. Many will have grown up watching Sagan flourish as 

 big thing in a sport that was often devoid of the character and entertainment that the Slovakian brought in bagfuls. 

To see him now as a figure of days gone by will stop many in their tracks, with 2023 having the sense of a year in which road cycling cuts the chord with its past and turns squarely towards the new generation. 

Not only has Sagan ridden his final road season, but so too have Greg Van Avermaet, Zdeněk Štybar and of course, Thibaut Pinot - all three of whom have cited a fatigue of the modern sport's punishing relentlessness. 

Nothing gold can stay: Greg Van Avermaet on retiring with no regrets

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

"I started with mountain biking, I want to finish with mountain biking and I finally want to enjoy something in cycling," an honest Sagan admitted, "and not just to be focused on big priorities."

"For so long, it has been Classics, then Tour de France, then World Championships and it is always the same, the same, the same… I need a change."

That is not to say that Sagan looks back with any regret of his time lighting up races for the likes of Cannondale, Tinkoff-Saxo and Bora-Hansgrohe. When asked to reflect on his greatest memories from the road, the 33-year-old's eyes lit up in a similar amazement to the rest of us when reeling off his list of results. 

"The victories are my favourite memories," he said. "Three World Championships are the best, and then Flanders, Roubaix, seven green jerseys, I think these are the best victories that I achieved in my career."

There is more than a sense of pride behind Sagan's words, as he takes stock of what he was able to achieve in his time at the top. 

But for now, Sagan's eyes turn instead to the dreams of a little boy riding around the woods in Slovakia. It will be SPDs rather than road pedals for Sagan in 2024, as he looks forward to a return to mountain biking. 

"It is definitely going to be different all year, but I will also meet different people than I have before and it is going to be something new.

Sagan sees mountain biking as more fun but dangerous than ever before

His contract with TotalEnergies may be up at the end of 2023, but Sagan's relationship with Specialized runs as deep as ever and he will turn out in the colours of Specialized Factory Racing Team in mountain biking next season. 

The aim is for Sagan to ride in the Paris Olympic Games, which he admits would be the "dream", but just gaining qualification for the event is a task in itself for Slovakia's only big cycling star. 

"It’s going to be very difficult and a very hard way until Paris," Sagan acknowledged. "But I always say it is not impossible and I have to think positive. I have to think it is possible and then we will see. It is definitely going to be hard work."

Such hesitancy is borne out of the UCI points that Sagan, and in turn Slovakia, will have to rack up before the Olympic Games just to see the nation qualify for a spot on the starting grid. Rather than qualifying as individuals, it is nations who qualify for the Olympics and Sagan is essentially the only mountain biker who is making a run at things for Slovakia. 

There is a two-year points cycle prior to the Games and for the past season, Sagan has been understandably busy with his road racing commitments to TotalEnergies. He rode the Mountain Bike World Championships earlier this summer and finished 37th in the short track, before coming home 63rd in the cross-country Olympic event. 

It wasn't the illustrious return to mountain biking he was hoping for, but Sagan knows this is a different sport than the one he left 15 years ago - albeit with infrequent dalliances in the interim - and he remains eager to throw himself back into the sport that had him venturing into the woods as a child. 

"It is definitely more fun, but also more dangerous than before," Sagan reflected. "It is shorter, it is very intense and I missed it for fifteen years. There has been a lot of change in mountain biking, you have to learn a lot of new things: how to adjust the suspension, ride better technically in downhills and train to perform over the short, intense performances, and then recover fast."

Earlier in the weekend, Sagan had noted to 

 the difference between a rider in his ilk and that of Ineos Grenadiers' Tom Pidcock. Whilst Sagan's heart rate maxes out on the climbs in mountain biking, and the descents are used as a moment to recover, a light rider such as Pidcock can somewhat ghost uphill and continue a punishing pace into the downhill. 

He admitted it is a different sport than the one he left to ply his trade on the road, but is quick to insist this is not meant in a negative tone. In particular, Sagan's intrigue became apparent when discussing the jumps and obstacles that have been introduced to mountain biking, offering up a new challenge to what was posed by the courses on which he became the junior world and European champion back in the day. 

"It is going to be totally different from road racing, but it is going to be hard work. A lot of things changed and I have to learn a lot of new things."

MTB World Cups may offer Sagan a way into the Paris Olympics 

Luckily for Sagan, time is still on his side when it comes to qualification for the Olympics, and relieved from the burdens presented to him by life in the WorldTour, the Slovakian's preparations can turn firmly off-road. 

The top 19 countries in the UCI's Nation Rankings earn a spot in the Olympics next summer. Switzerland currently sits in first position, a whopping 38 places above Slovakia. Switzerland's case is no doubt helped by the consistency of former gold medalist Nino Schurter, but Sagan and Slovakia can take hope from the 37-year-old's gold medal run at the 2016 Olympic Games.

It was here that Sagan last truly turned his attention to the discipline and despite starting from the back row, he ghosted into the top three behind Schurter after just a minute and a half. For a moment, it looked as though Sagan was a match for the then-five-time world champion, but an untimely puncture brought those dreams to a halt. 

The way in which Sagan moved up from place 50 of 50 on the starting grid still lingers in the memory, however, and will have many tuning into the UCI MTB World Cups next year to catch a glimpse of how Sagan fares. 

At the time of writing, there are at least nine mountain bike races on Sagan's calendar, likely including all the World Cups before Paris, as he bids to rack up sufficient UCI points to bolster Slovakia into the top 19. His preparations may well also include the occasional run out on a road bike. 

Sagan's plans are yet to be fully decided with Specialized, but there is a possibility of him riding a few amateur road races for RRK Group-Pierre Baguette in the new year. His brother Juraj is currently a DS for the team and it is understood that any road races he enters would simply be for training, rather than with the ambition of racking up results. 

Sagan's time at the top of professional road cycling is certainly up, but the Slovakian only looks back with fondness and gratitude for those who supported him along the way. Before 

's time was up with the three-time world champion, he was keen to send a message to the supporters who have watched him grow from a young upstart with Liquigas into one of the biggest stars that cycling will ever see. 

"Thanks to everyone because thanks to them, I had my career and they made my career much more enjoyable," said Sagan. "In the future, you will enjoy me also in mountain biking and we will see you in the races!"

Features

Tech Features

Best men's WorldTour bikes of 2023: Which brand won the most races?

Who was the most successful bike brand in 2023?

The 2023 men’s WorldTour season is already disappearing into the rear-view mirror, but it will live long in the memory. It was a year that delivered historical success for 

Jumbo-Visma as they became the first team to win all three Grand Tours in a single season

, while Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel duked it out for Monument supremacy.

Although the riders are the stars of the show, none of their success would be possible without the bikes that helped guide them to victory. To ensure that these bikes receive fair recognition, we’ve tallied up all of the wins each bike brand amassed during the 2023 WorldTour season. 

Who came out on top? Here’s a breakdown of Monument, Grand Tour and overall victories.

Tour de France bikes ranked: cheapest to most expensive

 is virtually guaranteed a Monument victory each season. The Dutchman has only failed to win a Monument in one of the last four seasons. He went one better in 2023 by doubling up for the first time, winning Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix. 

Incredibly, those were his only WorldTour wins in 2023 - the Dutchman clearly knows how to dial in his form for exactly when he needs it. That was proven once again at the 

World Championships where he powered to victory

, becoming road world champion for the first time.

Mathieu van der Poel inspires new limited-edition Canyon Aeroad CFR

2 wins: Tour of Flanders and Il Lombardia

It could have been three Monuments for Mathieu van der Poel if it wasn’t for that pesky Tadej Pogačar. The Slovenian is equally as prolific for Colnago, although that’s previously been at either Liège-Bastogne-Liège or Il Lombardia. 

This year he conquered the cobbles for the first time, winning the Tour of Flanders after cracking Van der Poel late in the race, before becoming only the third rider to win Il Lombardia three times in a row, joining Fausto Coppi and Alfredo Binda in a very esteemed list.

Both Pogačar and Van der Poel have now won three of the five monuments; can either complete the set?

Tour de France pro bike: Tadej Pogačar’s highly-customised Colnago V4Rs

3rd: Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7 (Soudal Quick-Step)

There are only five Monuments up for grabs each season. With Colnago and Canyon doubling up, that only leaves one spot on the podium, and it goes to 

’s second consecutive victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. 

The Belgian blew hot and cold at times throughout the season, with his Grand Tour general classification hopes stalling at both the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España. However, there was no stopping him at the Belgian Monument as he delivered another dominant victory after surging away from Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers). That was atop the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7 but it has since been replaced by the 

Stiffer, lighter, more aerodynamic – Specialized launches new Tarmac SL8

Grand Tours: Which bikes took the most wins at the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España?

12 stage wins: Bora-Hansgrohe, Soudal Quick-Step, TotalEnergies

Specialized made its numerical team advantage count at the Grand Tours this season by topping the pile with 12 wins. Most of those were delivered by 

 contributed one victory in their Grand Tour outing at the Tour de France, where the ProTeam regularly receives an invite. 

While its 12 wins are impressive, Specialized is missing an overall Grand Tour victory from its palmarès in 2023. Those expectations were planted firmly on the shoulders of Remco Evenepoel, but his Giro d’Italia plans were scuppered by COVID-19, before his Vuelta a España defence quickly crumbled.

Aleksandr Vlasov's Specialized Tarmac SL8 for the Vuelta a España

7 stage wins, 3 overall victories: Jumbo-Visma

 weren’t the best team of 2023, even if the UCI’s rankings don’t reflect that. The team was successful year-round, but it was the Grand Tours where they really stamped their authority on the season, making history in the process by becoming the first team to win all three in a single season. 

 delivered the first at the Giro d’Italia, 

 added to it by defending his Tour de France title, before 

 surprised everyone by winning the Vuelta a España. 

 enjoyed 10 victories at Grand Tours, and each of them was delivered by one of those three riders. It could have been even more if Wout van Aert hadn’t endured 

Vuelta a España pro bike: Primož Roglič’s Cervélo S5

9 stage wins: Alpecin-Deceuninck, Movistar

 did most of Canyon’s heavy lifting at the Grand Tours in 2023 or, more specifically, 

 did. The sprint duo amassed eight of the German brand’s nine wins, with 

’s victory on stage 13 of the Giro d’Italia providing Movistar’s sole contribution towards this tally. 

While their wins weren’t enough to top the rankings, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Canyon were undoubtedly the sprint kings at the Grand Tours in 2023.

Vuelta a España pro bike: Kaden Groves’ Canyon Aeroad CFR

Which bikes took the most wins in the 2023 men's WorldTour?

The Grand Tours and Monuments are cycling’s premier events, but littered amongst them are a wealth of prestigious races, each providing the opportunity for a coveted WorldTour win.

Here’s the complete bike rankings for the 2023 WorldTour season, including every individual race, stage and general classification victory. 

As you may expect, the same brands dominate once again, plus some non-WorldTour brands make an appearance in the form of Aurum, Factor and Ridley, whose ProTeams all picked up WorldTour wins in 2023.

 31 wins — Specialized — Bora-Hansgrohe, Soudal Quick-Step, TotalEnergies

 28 wins — Colnago — UAE Team Emirates

20 wins — Canyon — Alpecin-Deceuninck, Movistar

 12 wins — Merida — Bahrain Victorious

 9 wins — Pinarello — Ineos Grenadiers

 4 wins — Cannondale — EF Education-EasyPost

 4 wins — Cube — Intermarché-Circus-Wanty

 1 wins — Factor — Israel-Premier Tech

 1 wins — Wilier Triestina — Astana Qazaqstan

Which bike brands won the most races in the Women’s WorldTour in 2023? We’ll be releasing the full rankings soon.

Keep up to date with the latest tech news, features and pro bikes on the 

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Name	Age	UCI Career Wins	UCI Points
Dries van Gestel	29	3	783
Mathieu Burgaudeau	25	1	768
Jason Tesson	26	11	637
Sandy Dujardin	26	1	591
Steff Cras	28	0	358

TotalEnergies

TotalEnergies

The Team

Top TotalEnergies Stories

ENVE bikes enter pro peloton with TotalEnergies partnership

Peter Sagan: I want to finish with mountain biking and finally enjoy something in cycling

Best men's WorldTour bikes of 2023: Which brand won the most races?

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