Jonas Geens only needed one season in France to win the Challenge. The Belgian rider, recruited by Morbihan Adris Gwendal Oliveux, started his season with a bang, like his teammates. He won at the Essor Basque, at the Tour de Basse-Navarre. We then have to wait until mid-April to see him win his first Breton classic, with the Ronde du Porhoët. But it is thanks to his victory in the Essor Breton combined with a stage victory, doubled the following week by victory in the Tour de la Manche, that Jonas Geens propelled himself to 2nd place in the Challenge DV.
The stage races in July will allow the 25-year-old runner to take the last step. 8th in the Tour du Piémont Pyrénées then 4th in the Tour des Deux-Sèvres, he moved to the top of the Challenge DV Elite ranking. He is back with 8th place in the Kreiz Breizh Elites (2.2) and 4th in the Estivale Bretonne. He won his last victory in the 2nd stage of the 3 Days of Cherbourg.
When Jonas Geens took the lead in Challenge DV in July, he took it from Paul Hennequin. Indeed, this year the Espoirs runners from the French Continentals and the Espoirs français en Conti appeared in the ranking with the Amateur runners. If the Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur member held the lead in the Challenge DV, it was Brieuc Rolland who finished the highest ranked of the Conti riders. It passed very close to the head at the end of August. The Breton from Groupama-FDJ finished 3rd in the Polynormande (1.1) then 8th in the Tour de l'Avenir (and 5th in the Finestre stage). It was again with the French team that he won the Peace Race in the Nations Cup and with his Conti that he won the Tour of Lombardy Espoirs (1.2U). His last 85 points of the year.
Between Jonas Geens and Brieuc Rolland, Killian Théot took 2nd place in the Challenge DV. The VC Rouen 76 rider has been consistent all year. He won at the opening at the Grand Prix de Saint-Hilaire, he won again in the spring La Gislard and two stages of the Tour de la Manche. He won until after mid-August, winning the Prix de la Ville de Bavay. To complete his season, Killian Théot took three 2nd places in the Elite Nationale stage races: The Route Vendéenne, the Tour Nivernais Morvan and the Tour des Deux-Sèvres. If Jonas Geens will turn pro with Team Flanders-Baloise in 2025, Killian Théot will also be a neo-pro, with Van Rysel-Roubaix. Another rider from the Top 5, Jocelyn Baguelin will cross the Rubicon, Jocelyn Baguelin, teammate of Jonas Geens at Morbihan-Adris-Gwendal Oliveux, will be neo-pro at Wagner Bazin WB.
The Challenge DV Elites ranking :
Winner of the Challenge DV
2011: Arnaud Démare (CC Nogent-sur-Oise) 1894 pts
2012 : Warren Barguil (CC Etupes) 2042 pts
2013: Benoît Sinner (Army) 1620 pts
2014: Yann Guyot (Army) 1855 pts
2015: Romain Cardis (Vendée U) 1579 pts
2016: David Gaudu (Côtes d’Armor-Marie Morin) 1493 pts
2017: Fabien Schmidt (Côtes d’Armor-Marie Morin) 1741 pts
2018 : Geoffrey Bouchard (CR4C Roanne) 1686 pts
2019: Jérémy Cabot (SCO Dijon-Team Matériau-velo.com) 2123 pts
2020: Clément Carisey (Team Pro Immo Nicolas Roux) 899 pts
2021 : Karl Patrick Lauk (Team Pro Immo Nicolas Roux) 1471 pts
2022: Emilien Jeannière (Vendée U) 1752 pts
2023: Florian Dauphin (Cré'Actuel-Marie Morin-U 22) 1885 pts
2024: Jonas Geens (Morbihan-Adrias-Gwendal Oliveux) 1323 pts
The most prolific rider of the season is the French Champion Titouan Margueritat (Team Atria-Montluçon Cyclisme) with thirteen bouquets including six in Elite Nationale in addition to the French Championship and its Regional Championship. He finished 8th in the Challenge DV Amateur ranking. He is followed by Damien Urcel (VCC Capesterre-Belle-Eau) who also has a good collection of victories with ten successes in Guadeloupe and Martinique.
The Challenge DV Amateur ranking :
Among the Espoirs, Clément Izquierdo wins the ranking. The AVC Aix-en-Provence rider has four bouquets, including a stage of the Tour de la Mirabelle (2.2), the Grand Prix du Pays d'Aix and the final of the Coupe de France, the Puisaye-Forterre Classic, at the photo finish. But he accumulated even more 2nd places (six) starting with that of the Tour de Basse-Navarre, then those of Puyloubier, Bedat, the Grand Prix of Saint-Etienne and, the next day, that of Annemasse-Bellegarde . He was at times leading the Challenge DV. Next year, he will be a neo-pro at Cofidis.
Clément Izquierdo is 27 points ahead of Matthew Fox (CC Etupes) who shone in the stage races: overall victory in the Tour de la Côte d'Or and a stage in the Estivale Bretonne, 2nd in the Tour de la Manche, of the Tour de Moselle, 3rd in the Saint-Brieuc Agglo Tour, at UCI level, he finished 4th in the 1st stage of the Ronde de l'Oise (2.2). Joris Chaussinand (Bourg-en-Bresse Ain Cyclisme) is 3rd in the Challenge DV Hopes Ranking before turning pro at CIC U Nantes Atlantique.
The Challenge DV Hopes Ranking :
Among the Hopes, Clément Sanchez (Vendée U) was the best of the 19 years. The Pays de la Loire Champion, winner of the Critérium Romain-Guyot, finished 2nd in the SportBreizh Elites, 4th in the Ronde Mayennaise at the end of the season and 7th in the Grand Prix de Plouay (1.2). He dominated the category, beating one of the revelations of the season, Elyes Plenel-Jobard (Paris Cycliste Olympique). He scored his first point at the Prix Gilbert Bousquet then the following at the Tour de la Manche. From the summer, the harvest will become more important: 2nd in the Boucles de l'Austreberthe, then winner of the Grand Prix de Leval or even 6th in the Tour de Côte d'Or. The PCO rider finished with 339 points, ahead of Mattéo Viardot (VC Rouen 76) and Neriah Meunier Sow (Nippo-EF-Martigues), tied for 3rd.
The Challenge DV 19-year-old Ranking :
The decision on the team classification took a long time to take shape. The SCO Dijon-Team Materiel-velo.com was first neck and neck with Morbihan-Adris-Gwendal Oliveux then with the Vendée U but the VC Rouen 76 gained momentum in the wake of Killian Théot. The veteran of French clubs signed a good group shot at the Route Vendéenne by winning the team time trial, then placing three riders among the first five. VC Rouen then took the lead in the Challenge DV team rankings in July and never let it go. 2024 is a great vintage for VC Rouen 76 which won the Coupe de France N1, by teams and individually with Florentin Lecamus-Lambert and therefore the individual ranking of the Challenge DV and the team ranking.
Among the N2, Team Atria-Montluçon Cyclisme, the club of Titouan Margueritat the French Champion, but also the winning club of the Coupe de France N2, proof of its collective strength, finished at the top of the Challenge DV. Eight riders have won at least once in this team. Their runner-up, Team N'Side, finished at 880 points.
Nippo-EF-Martigues dominated the N3 rankings thanks to its numerous participations in 2.2 races in Bulgaria, Morocco or Japan, in which it participated and where its riders managed to score points. Another race providing points for the team in the pink jersey, the Tour de la Martinique (Elite Nationale) where Jules Chatelon won two stages and Yugi Tsuda accumulated the places of honor.
It is in Guadeloupe that the best ranked Non-National clubs are located. US Lamentin, with 18 individual victories and 24th in the team rankings, comes at the top of this Non-National ranking of the Challenge DV. No victories at the Tour de la Guadeloupe this year, but Dilhan Will won the Tour de Marie-Galante. The Guadeloupean club is ahead of the Martinicans of JC 231, 24 individual victories, and Team Madras Cycling.
The Challenge DV team ranking :
Find all the Challenge DV rankings by clicking here.
