For the first time since his arrival at the Espoirs in 2019, Valentin Retailleau will wear this weekend, during the Castellon and Valence Grands Prix, a jersey other than that of the AG2R La Mondiale structure. Not retained by the Savoyard WorldTeam, despite a success during a stage of the Boucles de la Mayenne, the 24-year-old Limousin chose TotalEnergies to bounce back. He will have plenty to do from the start since after Spain he will continue with the GP La Marseillaise, the Etoile de Bessèges, the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes and the Boucles Drôme/Ardèche. “It’s a great program for this first month of racing. This will immediately be an opportunity to see where I am.”. During his team's second pre-season training camp, by the sea in Calpe, he took stock with DirectVelo.
DirectVelo: At TotalEnergies, you are starting a new adventure after spending six years in the same structure…
Valentin Retailleau: In my mind, it's like a renewal, even if I plan to use what I've learned in recent years within the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team. We had a great year in 2024, that will push me to look for even better things from now on. I am approaching this new project at TotalEnergies with a lot of ambition and motivation. I've already reached milestones, I managed to win my first professional race, I'm going to put everything in place to perform well.
You learned very early on that you would not be kept at Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale. Was it a surprise?
Yes because I always did my part of the job and what's more, I got results. I quickly focused on finding a new team quickly and I'm happy to discover a new team. My agent Joona Laukka facilitated the mid-season meeting. This is one of the projects that I liked the most. The team speaks to me in terms of values and state of mind. I am very happy. I like the training work of this team, on the same model as what is also done at AG2R. As soon as I arrived at the Manor for the administrative internship, I felt a family atmosphere, I like it and it is close to my heart.
As a puncher with an offensive temperament, we have the feeling that this could be the perfect team for you to express yourself to the best…
I see a lot of myself in their way of running. It's an attacking team, that's what I like most about cycling. I will find all these things at TotalEnergies. They are ultra-professional and have nothing to envy of the team I knew previously.
“TRY TO GET RESULTS QUICKLY ENOUGH”
-You will undoubtedly have more responsibilities…
I was a team member a lot at Decathlon AG2R. I didn't have many opportunities, although I almost never missed when I had the opportunity to express myself. Having more opportunities to play my card is also what I came here to look for. I am ready to take responsibility. I like to race and win. This is the project, I want to be able to play the leading roles. I don't put pressure on myself at all, even though I think I know how to control it when there is any. I have been able to show in recent years that I don't often mess up. I assume that I know how to do certain things, it will be up to me to prove it during the season.
Have you changed anything in your preparation?
I changed a lot of things, I didn't train the same way, but I see that I'm at the level I hoped for. I did a longer internship than other years in December, with the team. I feel really good. The preparation was optimal, I am rather calm.
Have you targeted any races?
I will concentrate above all on the one-day races, in particular the Coupe de France rounds. I want to go to races within my reach to play my card, that will be the most important thing. I will try to achieve results fairly quickly, it would be good for my integration into the team.
