Madiot says decision will allow him to develop the new generation of French cycling
French cycling has received a substantial boost today with confirmation that the sponsor Française des Jeux has committed to extending its sponsorship of the FDJ.fr team. The backing will remain for the next three seasons, safeguarding the future of the team until the end of 2016.
The sponsorship is one of the longest-running of the current teams, having been started back in 1997. In the seventeen years since then the team has taken nine stage victories in the Tour de France, the green jersey with Baden Cooke in 2003 plus the most aggressive rider award with Jérémy Roy in 2011.
Other successes include two stage wins in the Giro d’Italia and four in the Vuelta a España, spells in the leader’s jersey in all three Grand Tours, numerous national championships, single day victories in the 1997 Paris-Roubaix, the 1997 Classica San Sebastian, the 1997 Grand Prix of Zurich, the 2006 Paris-Touris and the 2012 Vattenfall Cyclassics.
General manager Mark Madiot says the news is of big importance. “I welcome this decision, which allows us to work on the future of a young and brilliant generation in giving them a way to achieve their ambitions. At the same time, I hail the loyalty of FDJ for French cycling and this team in particular.”
The team points out the array of young talent in its ranks, including Thibaut Pinot, Arnaud Démare, Nacer Bouhanni, Arthur Vichot, Alexandre Geniez and Kenny Elissonde, and also the big visibility that these and other riders have afforded to the FDJ brand.
The team has been part of the UCI WorldTour since 2012 and has been confirmed as once again having a place in the sport’s top division for 2014.
According to the squad, it considers the season just finished as its most successful to date, with 33 victories, over seventy podium finishes and national championship titles with Vichot (road) and Francis Mourey (cyclocross). The wins included Vuelta a España stage victories by Geniez and Elissonde.
Along with the news of the extended sponsorship, the 2014 team kit has also been unveiled today. It is similar to last year’s blue jersey, although it will have the addition of a red diamond on the back, which is intended to make it easier to make out the jersey in aerial shots of races.
It will also have the ‘Bleuet de France’ symbol on the jersey, commemorating the centenary of the first world war and remembering its victims.