Nacer Bouhanni and Christophe Laporte show off the 2019 Cofidis colours(Image credit: Cofidis)
The Cofidis team worked hard for Herrada(Image credit: Getty Images)
Christophe Laporte in the 2019 Cofidis jersey(Image credit: Cofidis)
The 2019 Cofidis jersey has the team's #cofidismyteam hashtag on the rear(Image credit: Cofidis)
Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis)(Image credit: Cofidis)
Cofidis, like Team Sunweb, Team Sky and several other teams, have changed their colours for the 2019 season, swapping their traditional red for a white base decorated with the Cofidis name in red and the large yellow and red sun rays of the Cofidis corporate logo.
The French Professional Continental team has added the #cofidismyteam hashtag under the Cofidis name on the back of the jersey as part of its social media campaign. A video and photographs of sprinters Nacer Bouhanni and Christophe Laporte showing off the new jerseys revealed it will be matched with fading red shorts.
The 2019 kit was designed by Skal Studio and is made by Nalini. The team will again use Kuota bikes, with the Suomy helmet brand also appearing on the chest of the jersey.
Cofidis will have a 28-rider roster for 2019, with Bouhanni and Laporte set to the lead the French squad as it tries to step up to WorldTour level in 2020. New signings include Darwin Atapuma (from UAE Team Emirates), Natnael Berhane (Dimension Data), 2018 Red Hook criterium series winner Filippo Fortin (Team Felbermayr-Simplon Wels), Jesper Hansen (Astana), Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fortuneo-Samsic) and Zico Waeytens (Veranda’s Willems-Crelan), as the team tries to widen its options and score vital ranking points in the hope of securing one of the 18 spots in the 2020 WorldTour.
Daniel Navarro has moved to Katusha-Alpecin, Anthony Turgis to Direct Energie, while Daniel Teklehaimanot has been let go after less than a season with the team.
Cedric Vasseur took over as team manager last November and has worked hard to shake-up the team after several years of decline and poor results.
Cofidis finished second behind Wanty Groupe-Gobert in the UCI Europe Tour ranking this year, with Hugo Hofstetter topping the individual ranking. Cofidis won 21 races in 2018, with 10 different riders, taking a total of 54 podium spots. Jesús Herrada wore the leader’s red jersey at the Vuelta a Espana for two days and Luis Ángel Mate defended the blue polka-dot mountains jersey for close to two weeks. Both are part of the 2019 roster, as are Nicolas Edet, Geoffrey Soupe, Stéphane Rossetto and Cyril Lemoine.
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Bouhanni was forced to share sprint leadership with Laporte, leading to tension within the team and Bouhanni missing the Tour de France. He seemed ready to break his contract but won a stage at the Vuelta a Espana and knows he is fighting for his future.
Laporte won six races in the first five months of the 2018 season and was fourth at Gent-Wevelgem and second on stage 18 of the Tour de France in Pau. He inked a new contract with Cofidis until 2021, while Bouhanni’s contract ends in 2019.
