Benjamin Thomas (Armee de Terre)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Benjamin Thomas in the Tour de Wallonie's yellow jersey(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Equipe Cycliste Armée de Terre's Benjamin Thomas won the bet young rider jersey(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Gold medallist Benjamin Thomas (L) and Morgan Kneisky of France (C) pose with bronze medalist Moreno De Pauw of Belgium on the podium after the men's madison final at the Hong Kong Velodrome during the Track Cycling World Championships
Marc Madiot was also on hand at the press conference(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
FDJ has added French multiple track world champion Benjamin Thomas to its roster for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Thomas is the third signing for the French squad after Team Sunweb pairing Georg Preidler and Ramon Sinkeldam were confirmed earlier this month.
Thomas is just 21 but has already achieved a lot on the track, including world titles in the Madison and the omnium earlier this season. On the road, he has been racing with the Armée de Terre – Girs Continental squad and has won stages of the Four Days of Dunkirk and the Tour de Wallonie. He finished the Tour du Poitou-Charentes in second in the young riders classification. Thomas says that he's looking forward to the step up.
"For me, it's a little like a French Team Sky, I will be able to benefit from top equipment in a team that makes me dream," said Thomas. "I am obviously happy and very motivated by this new challenge at the top of the world. It's one more step to climb in my career, but I'm ready."
Thomas' performances meant that there were a number of teams interested in securing his services, but a conversation with team manager Marc Madiot sealed the deal. While at FDJ, he will be able to combine the road with his track ambitions too, which include next year's World Championships.
"I had several proposals, I weighed the pros and cons, but the speech of Marc Madiot quickly seduced me," explained I know I will be in very good conditions in this team which is for me the best in France. And continuing on the track is important to me. [It] will allow me to be a part of the next world championships in Apeldoorn.
"The track is mostly in winter even if I always have a foot two or three times a month. And then it is natural enough for me to go from track to road; I switch very quickly."
Madiot expressed his delight in signing Thomas for the forthcoming seasons. "He's definitely a good pick," said Madiot. "We are very pleased that Benjamin is joining us for the next two seasons. It has intrinsic qualities that will quickly bring our team to the road, but he will retain important goals on the track, with the Olympics in Tokyo and even Paris 2024 in the spotlight."
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