Four years after his departure for AG2R La Mondiale, Damien Touzé returned to the Cofidis team during the off-season. “During my first years at Cofidis, I was young and in training. Now I have several seasons behind me, I am 28 years old, I am experienced. I have just returned from a rather successful project at AG2R. I come to bring experience here”he indicates to DirectVelo.
His first years with the Savoyard team were not easy, with a few falls which prevented him from fully expressing himself. “When I came back well, there were still small bursts of brilliance”. It was finally in 2024 that he had his best season with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale. “I found color and competitiveness again”appreciates the 4th in the Tour de la Provence and 8th in the Tour de Belgique.
During the last Tour of Italy, where he served Ben O'Connor, the trend was towards an extension at Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale. But during the summer, Vincent Lavenu was fired and the situation changed. “It didn't help, I had a good relationship with Vincent (Lavenu) while I didn't have the same links with Dominique (Serieys). It was complicated to understand at first, because there was nothing to reproach me for, humanly or sportingly. But we had to make room for young people.”
NO GRAND TOUR, LOTS OF ONE DAY RACES
-It is therefore towards Cofidis that Damien Touzé turned to continue his professional career, which began in 2017 at Auber 93. “I hesitated, they are in difficulty (to stay in the WorldTour, Editor’s note) but I will have more responsibilities, more opportunities, with a better arranged schedule that will suit me more. So I turned to a project more centered on myself. It’s a challenge to take on”.
Le Normand hopes to repeat the results obtained during his first professional years (see its DirectVelo file). And to achieve this, its program has been adapted. There will be no Grand Tour on his program this year, and he will mainly be involved in one-day races. “It fits more with my profile as a Classics runner. As I climb well and ride well, I suited AG2R for stage races to help the leaders everywhere. But here, I will try to get results.”
Except for Milan-San Remo and the Amstel Gold Race, its calendar will be exclusively Franco-Belgian until mid-April. He will indeed complete the GP La Marseillaise, the Etoile de Bessèges, the Tour de la Provence, the Het Nieuwsblad, Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne, Paris-Nice, Ghent-Wevelgem, Across Flanders, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and the Flèche Brabançonne. A program that he feels ready to face after a great winter. “I feel that the sensations are good and I can't wait to do battle in the first races. I want to help score UCI points for the team”. She will need it badly.
