Thibaut Pinot sprays the victor's champagne at Il Lombardia(Image credit: Getty Images)
Arnaud Demare celebrates after winning stage 18 at the Tour de France(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Stefan Kung (BMC Racing) and Pascal Eenkhoorn (LottoNl-Jumbo) formed the break of the day(Image credit: Getty Images)
Jeremy Roy on the podium acknowledging his retirement after Paris-Tours(Image credit: Getty Images)
David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) on the attack(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Groupama-FDJ have confirmed their line-up for the 2019 season, with 28 riders on their roster. The number is the same as this year, with only a few small changes to the squad.
The French team have been quiet since the transfer window opened, choosing to solidify what they already had through a series of contract extensions. Many of those were for at least two seasons, so we’re unlikely to see many changes next winter either.
Departing the team at the end of the season are Jeremy Roy, who is retiring after 16 years as a pro, Davide Cimolai, who is moving to Israel Cycling Academy, and Arthur Vichot, who is on his way to Vital Concept.
Groupama-FDJ did not look too far for their replacements, with all three new signings coming from the BMC Racing set-up. Stefan Kung and Miles Scotson will strengthen their time trial department, while 24-year-old Kilian Frankiny is a promising climber.
Once again, the crux of the team’s ambitions will be focused around Frenchmen and longtime FDJ riders Thibaut Pinot and Arnaud Démare.
Pinot did not enjoy the success he’d hoped for in Grand Tours but still came away from 2018 with a lot to be happy about. The 28-year-old won the Tour of the Alps in April before a strong performance at the Giro d’Italia that was brought to a premature end by illness. He took the summer off before returning at the Tour de Pologne, where he finished third overall, and went on to win two stages of the Vuelta a España. He closed out his season with victory at Milano-Torino and Il Lombardia - his first Monument.
Démare has also found plenty of success this season, with stage wins at the Tour de France, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Suisse and Tour Poitou-Charentes, as well as podium places at Milan-San Remo, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, and the EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg.
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All-in-all, Groupama-FDJ enjoyed a largely successful season with 33 victories over the year, a tally only bettered by Quick-Step Floors, Team Sky, Mitchelton-Scott and Bora-Hansgrohe. However, they only managed 14th out of 18 teams in the WorldTour team rankings, based on points in WorldTour races.
Groupama-FDJ will also run a Continental squad next season, which they announced earlier this week.
Groupama-FDJ for 2019: Bruno Armirail, Mickael Delage, Antoine Duchesne, David Gaudu, Daniel Hoelgaard, Stefan Kung, Olivier Le Gac, Valentin Madouas, Steve Morabito, Georg Preidler, Anthony Roux, Miles Scotson, Ramon Sinkeldam, Benoit Vaugrenard, William Bonnet, Arnaud Demare, Kilian Frankiny, Jacopo Guarnieri, Ignatas Konovalovas, Matthieu Ladagnous, Tobias Ludvigsson, Rudy Molard, Thibaut Pinot, Sebastian Reichenbach, Marc Sarreau, Romain Seigle, Benjamin Thomas, Leo Vincent.
