Vincent Terrier has found a base. While his contract was not renewed by the Cofidis team, where he was one of three coaches since 2021, he signed up for next season with Continental China Glory-Mentech. He will find another Frenchman in the staff of the Chinese team, sports director Lionel Marie. For DirectVelothe former Chambéry CF coach looks back on the French WorldTeam's decision and talks about his future.
DirectVelo: After four seasons at Cofidis, you have not been extended…
Vincent Terrier: It went well the first three years. With Sam Bellenoue (which will no longer be at Cofidis as well, Editor’s note)we were in a bit of a construction phase because Vincent Villerius had been alone for a long time. We have achieved very positive things until the 2023 super season for Cofidis. I don't know if it's thanks to the performance unit but we were in good shape. It's no secret that the last season was not good at all. We were looking for results, there were very few victories, the collective was not taking… Cédric (Vasseur) was always asking for better and in the end, we were not able to offer it to him. We were in fact doing the same thing as the three previous years when it had worked.
“I DON’T WANT HIM”
Were you surprised not to be extended?
Normally, it is decided at the time of the French Championship but I was not there this year as I was sports director at the Tour of Slovakia. So I didn't have the opportunity to see Cédric during the Championship. We had talked about it a little before, he told me that he wanted a radical change for 2025. I didn't manage to get it throughout the summer, and when I got it in September-October , he told me that there would be a complete change to turn the page, both among the runners and among the performance staff. Unfortunately, I was one of those who had to leave.
How did you experience it?
Obviously, when it happens to you, I'm not going to say that you're very happy and that you're experiencing it well. We question the operation over a single season, without taking into account what happened before. This is the law of high-level sport. In football, when things don't work, you change coaches. We have to deal with it. What's a shame is that Cédric took a while to decide what he wanted to do. In June, he told me that I could potentially stay because humanly things were going well. We believed in it at the time of the Giro where we said to ourselves that it was starting again, then we hoped that it would start again at the Tour, we had prepared another group for the end of the season during an altitude course, but the results were not never really came back and Cédric wanted a radical change. I wish I had been warned sooner. I didn't have much time to turn around. The staffs were already quite full when I found out.
Do you blame Cédric Vasseur?
We explained things at length on the phone. The team didn't work, it was necessary to justify it to the management and try something new. 2025 will be a special year, a pivotal season for the rest of the WorldTour. He didn't want to take the risk of hitting the wall. I don't blame him but it's difficult to say that it's because of performance and that therefore we have to change. That's what hurts my heart a little but that's how it is, it's high-level sport as I said and now I'm used to it.
“THERE IS EVERYTHING TO DO”
Finally, you will leave with the Continental China Glory. How did you end up in this structure?
I didn't think about China Glory at all. I was moving towards the development of my company. My contract with Cofidis lasted until November, I put a message on my social networks without commenting to announce that it was over and Lionel Marie wrote to me to tell me that he wanted to call me. It was the end of October. China Glory is the Chinese federation team. It was created to increase the level of cyclists in the country. A page has turned with the Paris Olympics and they are starting a new Olympiad. Lionel (Marie) told me that the goal was to grow the team. He wanted to bring something new, he brought in a DS arriving from Astana and new riders (see the squad). He also wanted a European coach and my experience in the WorldTour interested him. The idea is to come and taste the races in Europe from time to time. I signed for a year to help grow the project and it could be renewable.
What will your daily life look like?
Most of the work will be done from Europe but the team wanted a coach who could travel. The particularity is that the runners are in training all the time, always together, a bit like sport. I experienced a bit of this with Chambéry and this experience interested Lionel. We must offer training to runners who are always grouped together. They will do an altitude training course in January. So I'm going to join them for almost a month in China, before the Asian Games. They are based in Türkiye for part of the season. I will race like DS. From July until October, there is a big calendar in China.
This will be your first experience abroad…
There is a little apprehension about living there a little bit because it’s another culture. An assistant coach speaks English, there is also always a translator. There is everything to do. The good side is that I have already seen that the runners are very attentive. Runners do exactly what you tell them to do, no questions asked.
