Clément Pédron, Media365, published on Friday December 27, 2024 at 12:09 p.m.
The Cycling season has ended and it is time to take stock of the French side. The Tricolores’ performances were rare but had the merit of bringing their share of emotions all the same.
France has not yet produced a rider capable of winning a Grand Tour unlike Slovenia with Tadej Pogacar or Denmark with Jonas Vingegaard. On the other hand, it remains an important nation in the discipline. In 2024, there will be 111 victories for French teams and 106 victories for French riders according to the National Cycling League count. Among the strong men of this vintage, it is impossible not to mention Romain Bardet.
The Auvergnat, who will retire in June 2025 at the end of the Critérium du Dauphiné, showed to what extent he knows how to sublimate himself when he is in great shape. The native of Brioude got the Tour de France off to a flying start by winning the first stage thanks to his teammate Frank van den Broek. And the leader didn’t stop there since he also took second place in Liège-Bastogne-Liège to everyone’s surprise, the best result of his career on a Monument – and the only tricolor podium of the year on the five greatest classics on the calendar.
The double of the Olympic Games
Romain Bardet was not the only one to shine on the French roads during the Grande Boucle since Kévin Vauquelin (Arkea Samsic) and Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) were also there. Double world champion in 2020 and 2021, Julian Alaphilippe has finally seen the end of the tunnel. After two difficult years with Soudal-Quick-Step, the rider raised his arms on a stage of the Giro (like Valentin Paret-Peintre). Absent from the Tour de France, the Frenchman was in the best position to compete in the Worlds before a fall dashed his hopes.
One of the highlights of this cycling season is undoubtedly the road race of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. If Remco Evenepoel pocketed gold for Belgium, Christophe Laporte and Valentin Madouas sublimated the event by taking silver and bronze. Individually, the Visma rider certainly lost his European champion jersey but won Paris-Tours. Among the great surprises, we can cite the great seasons of Paul Magnier (20 years old, 8 victories) and Benoît Cosnefroy (29 years old, 7 victories) but also the very good form of the French team Decathlon AG2R with no less than thirty victories. The French team will include Paul Seixas, who became the first French world champion in the junior time trial. On the other hand, Arnaud Démare did not have a good harvest in 2024 with only two successes in low-level races. Lenny Martinez, Romain Grégoire, Paul Lapeira have gained ground and are set to do great things in 2025.
