Citing Nicolas Roche’s stage win last week in the Tour of Beijing as a sign of the potential of the French team, the Reynolds wheel manufacturer has announced that it has renewed a two year deal it has held with the Ag2r la Mondiale squad.
Roche’s success came on stage three of the race when he broke clear on the final climb of the toughest stage and combined with fellow Irishman Philip Deignan (RadioShack) and Chris Froome (Sky Procycling) to eke out enough of a lead to hold off the main bunch. He then outsprinted the other other to the line, nabbing his first-ever WorldTour victory in the process. Roche used Reynold’s 1091 gram climbing wheelset in doing so.
The wheel company’s CEO Dean Gestal said that the result was an important one, perhaps thinking about what has been at times a quiet season for the French team. Like several of the other riders, Roche has been a little below his usual level and consequently he was unable to quite match his strong showings in last year’s Tour de France and Vuelta a España. However winning in Beijing suggests that he is finally firing on all cylinders. The result also takes pressure off the team and gives it important points in its aim of retaining its UCI ProTeam licence for 2012.
"This victory shows the impressive potential of the team, and reinforces our belief in their competitiveness on the WorldTour,” said Gestal, when confirming the extension of its contract with the team.
General manager Vincent Lavenu welcomed the new deal, saying that he values the equipment the team has at its disposal. "We are pleased to continue this adventure with Reynolds Cycling. The AG2R La Mondiale team is fully supported by Reynolds who brings the highest quality products,” he said. “Thanks to Reynolds we can play a role at the highest level of World Cycling.”
The team will have a range of composite wheels to chose from, including the RZR 46 Team and Element Disc wheels. "Reynolds Cycling offers us a wide range of wheels that correspond to different profiles of races and to the riders' demands," explained team mechanic Gilles Martinet, who pointed out that different riders use different products, depending on their needs and preferences.
Reynolds pointed out that the team had no crashes in this year’s Tour de France, claiming that this was partly down to the CTg Brake Track and Swirl Lip Generator technologies which it says helps ensure that the aerodynamic wheels remain cooler and enable an even, predictable braking performance.