The 27-year-old told Cyclignnews a month ago that it was time to move on and leave Trek, and his new destination was finally announced on Monday. He represents the final piece of business in the transfer market for Vincent Lavenu's French team, who have now finalised their roster for 2016.
"I am very excited by the idea of joining the AG2R La Mondiale team for the next two seasons. I have to thank Vincent Lavenu, who has given me this opportunity," said Sergent, who will become the first rider from New Zealand to ride for the team.
"AG2R La Mondiale is known for its attacking style, with riders who never give up, and I really can't wait to be part of this team. I hope to continue my progression and target the time trials and week-long stage races. I also want to help the team's leaders to achieve the big results, which is something I enjoy a lot. I am ready to take on this new challenge."
Sergent came through the ranks with the American Trek set-up, first riding for the Trek Livestrong development team before joining the top-tier outfit - then known as RadioShack - as a stagiaire in 2010. He enjoyed a highly successful neo-pro season in 2011, during which he won a stage of the Eneco Tour along with stages and the overall classifications at the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen and the Tour du Poitou Charentes.
Sergent has shown himself to be a strong rouleur, time triallist, and domestique, though the win rate has dried up since that heady neo-pro year - a stage at the Tour of Austria being his only other triumph. His 2015 season was derailed somewhat by a broken collarbone sustained when he was hit by a neutral service vehicle during the Tour of Flanders.
"I had noted the rouleur capabilities of Jesse Sergent for several seasons," said Lavenu. "We are happy to welcome him, and his characteristics as a rouleur and classics specialist are going to strengthen us considerably in that area."
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Sergent is the third and final signing in what has been a fairly calm transfer window for the French team. His signing follows that of Cyril Gautier from Europcar and Francois Bidard, who has had spells as a stagiaire in each of the last two seasons. Like this year, the 2016 roster will be made up of 29 riders, with Carlos Betancur leaving for Movistar and Rinaldo Nocentini not offered a new contract.
AG2R La Mondiale for 2016: Gediminas Bagdonas, Jan Bakelants, Romain Bardet, Julien Bérard, François Bidard, Guillaume Bonnafond, Mikael Cherel, Maxime Daniel, Nico Denz, Axel Domont, Samuel Dumoulin, Hubert Dupont, Ben Gastauer, Damien Gaudin, Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Alexis Gougeard, Patrick Gretsch, Hugo Houle, Quentin Jauregui, Blel Kadri, Pierre Latour, Sébastien Minard, Matteo Montaguti, Jean-Christophe Peraud, Domenico Pozzovivo, Christophe Riblon, Jesse Sergent (Trek), Sébastien Turgot, Johan Vansummeren and Alexis Vuillermoz.
