2024 is not the dream year but Team Bricquebec Cotentin has the opportunity to reverse the trend at home on the 3 Days of Cherbourg. Last winner of the Coupe de France N2, the club from Manche is having a more difficult season in the higher division. Sporting director of the team, Antoine Lecarpentier takes stock of the last few months with DirectVelo and traces the path that remains to be traveled.
DirectVelo: How is Team Bricquebec Cotentin approaching the 3 Days of Cherbourg?
Antoine Lecarpentier: When you start a race, you always want to do well. This is increased tenfold when you are competing at home. The opening stage arrives in Bricquebec so we will automatically be expected and people will be there to support us on the side of the road. With the route, the series of difficulties and fairly long stages, we can have a wild race. Adrien (Garel) has shown in recent weeks that he is present by not leaving the top ten places for a month. However, this will not be our only card. We always want to get the best possible result but it is above all the way of doing it that will be important. If we are active and we take the race in the right direction, we will automatically get a good result afterwards.
“IT’S COMPLICATED TO DISRUPT THE DYNAMICS”
What is the assessment of this season so far?
We didn’t have the season that was expected. We hadn’t aimed for a specific number of wins but we hoped to be on the same dynamic as last year, that is to say to reach ten victories. With this squad at the start of the season, it wasn’t something unattainable. Unfortunately, we had a series of physical problems. Riders we were counting on were injured and some, like Théo Sagnier, didn’t even wear a single bib for the season. When you start the year like this, it’s then complicated to upset the dynamic. We had a passable summer with a few places. In N1, we really expect to go for victories and podiums. We weren’t up to it collectively.
There are still some positives to be taken from this year…
Of course. In January, we won our first French Champion title through Normandy, on the track, with the team pursuit in which three of our riders were present. We also won our first road medal at the French Elite Championships with silver for Corentin (Ermenault) in the time trial, even if it wasn’t the metal he was hoping for. Matthieu Cordelier had a very good season, as did Adrien Garel who brought home our only two victories.
“WE ARE COMING TO THE END OF A CYCLE”
What is your vision for the future of the team?
First of all, we want to go until the end of this season. The team structure is good and healthy. Everything is in place to perform. This first year of N1 is a year of discovery, a pivotal year. It is not always easy to move up and make the jump between N2 and N1. We remain optimistic for the seasons to come. It would be too easy if sport were a truth and if it always happened as we had predicted. I think that having a more complicated season shows how far we still have to go. It also allows us to rectify things more quickly for the years to come.
We already know the name of the first recruit, James Hartley. How will the squad evolve with a view to 2025?
We know that we are coming to the end of a cycle because riders had warned us that this would be their last season. So we are starting almost from a blank sheet. It is expected that 2025 will launch a new dynamic of which James (Hartley) will be an important element. He will bring an external vision to the traditional French model present in amateur cycling. We hope that he can give us new momentum. We are currently in talks with many riders. The objective is to respond to the characteristics of our territory and the races on our program, as well as to seek out riders who are capable of winning and playing at the front. We should build a solid team, with new youth.
