Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale (UCI team code: DAT) is a French cycling team with UCI WorldTeam status. Its title sponsors are French sporting goods retailer Decathlon and French insurance firm AG2R La Mondiale. The team is predominantly French.
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| UCI code | DAT | ||||||||||||||||
| Registered | France | ||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1992 | ||||||||||||||||
| Discipline(s) | Road | ||||||||||||||||
| Status | UCI WorldTeam | ||||||||||||||||
| Bicycles | Factor (To 2018) Eddy Merckx Cycles (2019–2020) BMC (2021–2023) Van Rysel (2024–) | ||||||||||||||||
| Components | Shimano | ||||||||||||||||
| Website | Team home page | ||||||||||||||||
| Key personnel | |||||||||||||||||
| General manager | Vincent Lavenu | ||||||||||||||||
| Team manager(s) | Laurent Biondi | ||||||||||||||||
| Team name history | |||||||||||||||||
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History
editIn 1992 Vincent Lavenu, who had just retired from professional cycling, started a professional cycling team with Chazal as the main sponsor. Lavenu had previously organised sponsorship from Chazal of his last professional team. This sponsor stayed from 1992 to 1995. In 1996 Petit Casino, a chain of coffee shops in supermarkets, took over the sponsorship of the team. At this time the team was a second division team that relied on the public to sponsor the team. The team had the saying "Petit Casino- c’est votre equipe" – "it's your team", which signified this involvement of the public.[1]
In 1997 Casino, the supermarket chain that contained the Petit Casino coffee shops, took over the sponsorship of the team and the budget increased substantially. Lavenu's team could compete in the big races such as the classics.[2] The team obtained successes with Alexander Vinokourov, Jaan Kirsipuu and Lauri Aus.
The insurance company Ag2r Prevoyance took over as the main sponsor in 2000.[3] The team obtained further successes with Laurent Brochard, Jaan Kirsipuu and Jean-Patrick Nazon. In 2006, the team joined the UCI ProTour, following the signings of big cycling names Francisco Mancebo and Christophe Moreau. Fassa Bortolo's exit from the competition had freed a licence and AG2R was the only team left vying for the license, as Comunidad Valenciana voluntarily withdrew, while the proposed new team of former Fassa Bortolo sporting director Giancarlo Ferretti turned out to be without financial backing. Ag2r obtained success in the 2006 Tour de France with a stage win by Sylvain Calzati, and a day in the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification by Cyril Dessel.
Rinaldo Nocentini took the yellow jersey after stage 7 of the 2009 Tour de France after a successful breakaway in which fellow Ag2r-La Mondiale rider Christophe Riblon also took part and earned the daily combativity award. Nocentini retained the race leadership for eight stages, and Ag2r-La Mondiale also led the team classification from stage 7 to stage 11 and for one further day after stage 14.
In 2014, the team had great results at the Tour de France, winning a stage and having Jean-Christophe Péraud taking second place in the overall classification. In October of that year, it was announced that AG2R would continue to sponsor the team through 2018,[4] at the 2016 Tour de France the sponsorship was extended a further two years – into the 2020 season.[5]
In September 2020, the team signed a contract with BMC as their bike supplier from 2021 for three years. The team will also be known under the name AG2R Citroën Team from the 2021 season after the French car company announced that they had become the co-sponsor of the team.[6]
The team experienced further success during the 2021 Tour de France, when Tour debutant Ben O'Connor ascended to victory on Stage 9 in the Alpine village of Tignes.[7]
In November 2023, Decathlon was announced as the co-title sponsor of the team in a five-year deal. The team will be called Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale from 2024. Decathlon will also be replacing BMC as the bike supplier of the team, with the team using Decathlon's Van Rysel bikes with Shimano components. Citroën will stay on as the team's official car supplier.[8]
Doping
editOn 21 September 2012 Steve Houanard tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition test and was provisionally suspended.[9][10][11]
On 15 May 2013 Sylvain Georges tested positive for the banned stimulant Heptaminol and failed to start stage 11 of the 2013 Giro d'Italia.[12][13] Georges blamed the positive result on the freely available product 'Ginkor Fort' (made from Ginkgo biloba).[14] On 21 May Georges 'B Sample' also tested positive for the stimulant[15] causing the team to voluntarily remove itself from the 2013 Critérium du Dauphiné in accordance with MPCC rules.[16] As a result of the positive Georges was banned by the French Cycling Federation for 6 months.[17]
On 10 March 2015 the UCI announced that Lloyd Mondory had tested positive for EPO on 17 February in an out-of-competition test. As a result, Mondory was suspended pending the outcome of his B sample analysis.[18][19]
Team roster
edit- As of 16 January 2024.[20]
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Major wins
editWorld & National champions
edit- 1997
French Road Race, Stéphane Barthe
Belgian Road Race, Marc Streel
- 1998
Estonian Road Race, Jaan Kirsipuu
- 1999
- 2000
- 2001
- 2002
Irish Road Race, Mark Scanlon
- 2003
Spanish Time Trial, Inigo Bernardez
- 2004
Ukrainian Time Trial, Yuriy Krivtsov
- 2006
- 2007
- 2008
Moldovan Road Race, Alexandre Pliușchin
- 2009
- 2010
Swiss Road Race, Martin Elmiger
- 2012
Luxembourg Time Trial, Ben Gastauer
- 2014
Belarusian Road Race, Yauheni Hutarovich
- 2015
Canada Time Trial, Hugo Houle
- 2017
World U23 Road Race, Benoît Cosnefroy
- 2018
Lithuania Road Race, Gediminas Bagdonas
- 2019
- 2020
- 2021
- 2022
References
edit- ^ "Hung Up in Picardy, Hoping for Bigger Things". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 2007-08-20. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
- ^ "Cycling team rolls on to the big time". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 2007-08-26. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
- ^ "Histoire de l'equipe cycliste Ag2r Prevoyance". Ag2r non official supporters. Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
- ^ "News shorts: AG2R renews through 2018, Androni on Kuota". Cyclingnews.com. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
- ^ "AG2R la Mondiale extends sponsorship through 2020 - News Shorts".
- ^ Branquinho, Lance (14 September 2020). "AG2R Citroën team to ride BMC in 2021". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
- ^ "Australian Ben O'Connor wins stage nine of the Tour de France, moves to second behind yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar".
- ^ Decathlon (2023-11-27). "DECATHLON x AG2R LA MONDIALE". Decathlon United. Archived from the original on 2023-12-18. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
- ^ "Houanard provisionally suspended for EPO". Cyclingnews.com.
- ^ "Steve Houanard provisionally suspended after A-sample positive for EPO". velonation.com.
- ^ "Ag2r suspends Houanard after positive EPO test". VeloNews.com.
- ^ "Sylvain Georges positive for Heptaminol". Cyclingnews.com.
- ^ "Sylvain Georges returns positive A sample for Heptaminol, out of Giro d'Italia". velonation.com.
- ^ "Georges takes blame for positive doping control". Cyclingnews.com.
- ^ "Georges' B Sample also positive, UCI confirms". Cyclingnews.com.
- ^ Peter Cossins. "Ag2r confirm they won't ride Dauphiné". Cyclingnews.com.
- ^ "UCI wants Georges' ban extended to two years". Cyclingnews.com.
- ^ "Ag2r's Lloyd Mondory positive for EPO – VeloNews.com". VeloNews.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ^ "Mondory returns adverse analytical finding for EPO". Cyclingnews.com.
- ^ "Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team". UCI. Retrieved 6 January 2024.