With 26 victories in 2024, the French team is currently the third force in the peloton, but the general director of France Cyclisme, the structure which oversees the team, is not satisfied with it. “I am a winner,” insists the former boss of the Paris Défense Arena and the Mitsubishi team with which he won seven Paris-Dakar races.
Only eleven months after your arrival, your team seems transformed. Are you a magician?
“No, no (laughs). But I have 46 years in the business and I have been racing for 22 years. I was a team boss for Mitsubishi for nine years. We have won the Dakar seven years in a row. All these elements mean that I too am a winner. At home, they know when I haven’t won because I make their lives hell. My background means that I know the ingredients. »
What is the recipe then?
“One, we must structure the different centers appropriately with competent people. Two, I learned from a person who was very successful in motorsport, Jean Todt, that you must always recruit better than yourself. So, you have to hire a very good financial administrative director, etc. And then, you have to create a real organization. Have management tools for employees, manage 285 days of racing, parts stock – more than 300 bikes and 800 wheels. It was a tsunami, a fight. Eleven months of hard work since I arrived. »
How did the teams in place receive this speech?
“One of the first things I asked was: why are we racing? I felt the question was awkward. Some told me that it was obligatory on the League calendar, to score points at the UCI. I said: no, you are completely wrong. If we participate in races, it is to win. Otherwise, I’m not going there. I told the runners: now, in the evening, when you go to bed, you think about winning. In the morning, when you have your cornflakes or your slow sugars, you think about winning. We laid everything down, changed habits. Vincent (Lavenu, historic manager) and his teams were attentive and respectful. If the runners had not joined, we would not have the results. »
Are you surprised that the results came so quickly?
“No, because we set the bar high. We reinforced everything. I took a good look at what our competitors like UAE or Visma were doing. It’s not complicated: they run less than us, but they prepare the races much better. So we reinforced the altitude courses. Above all, we put in place a strategic plan with ambitious objectives such as winning a Grand Tour. 2025 will be another year of transition. In 2026, 2027, 2028, we will have to perform. »
But are you already performing?
“Not on the big Monuments. We have a goal in front of us, which is Paris-Roubaix, with a company (Decathlon) which is from the north of France, with a bike called Van Rysel – I come from Lille. So, we are going to launch a work program on Roubaix and on the Flandrian and Ardennes classics to achieve results there too, as on the Grand Tours. »
Preferably the Tour de France?
“This year, it’s been 39 years since a Frenchman won the Tour de France. So we’re going to work on that. We have certain young riders who are going to climb the World Tour and who have the ability. We have strengthened the entire part of the biological passport, medical tests, and the runner’s health. Training too, with downhill coaches. These are small details that are almost invisible, but which mean that nothing is overlooked today. »
Will your budget increase?
“We are starting to enter the top 10 grid. We will grow over the next few years to probably approach 35 or 40 million euros. Certainly, we do not have the budget of UAE, which undoubtedly does not have a budget. But we must not hide behind this excuse. First of all, we must be well organized, well structured, we must have real visibility of what we want to do in terms of recruitment, where we want to go. And I think it will work. »
