FDJ-SUEZ have not denied recent reports that Tour de France champion Demi Vollering is close to signing a multi-year contract agreement with the France-based Women's WorldTour team.
CEO and manager Stephen Delcourt has told Cyclingnews that while the team will not comment on such negotiations, the fact that the Tour de France champion is linked to his team confirms the strength of the programme's past, present and future.
Cyclingnews understands that Movistar and UAE Team ADQ are not interested in signing Vollering, despite some initial contact.
"The rumours that link Demi Vollering, last Tour de France Femmes winner, with FDJ-SUEZ only confirm the viability of the team' project implemented since 2006 and built on hard work and humility over the years," the team's press officer provided Cyclingnews with a comment on behalf of Delcourt on Monday.
"FDJ-SUEZ will not comment any further on rumours about any negotiation."
It was recently reported in Algemeen Dagblad (AD.nl) that Vollering is currently in negotiations with the FDJ-SUEZ team and could see her racing with the team on a multi-year contract beginning in 2025.
While multiple teams could vie for Vollering's signature, the report suggests that FDJ-SUEZ could be the front-runner in the race to sign the powerful Dutch champion.
Under UCI rules, transfers of riders on WorldTour teams or ProTeams for the next season are not permitted to be finalised until the official transfer period of August 1 to December 31.
There has been a lot of media buzz around Vollering during the spring racing block after reports of a €1 million contract offer and her potential departure from SD Worx-Protime at the end of 2024.
SD Worx sports manager Danny Stam confirmed the news before the start of Dwars door Vlaanderen in Waregem to GCN in March.
Later, the team's manager, Erwin Janssen, made public statements about the negotiation process between the team and Vollering's agent, revealing how he felt the contract negotiations with Vollering had broken down.
Janssen gave details of the contract negotiations at the team’s pre-Tour of Flanders press event, revealing that Vollering had been given an ultimatum to an offer. However, after a lengthy negotiation period, her management did not accept, leading them to believe she would leave the team.
A potential move to FDJ-SUEZ would be a boon for the French outfit that has been focussed on the Tour de France Femmes and securing the yellow jersey on home soil since the event's rebirth in 2022 and the team's inception in 2006 as Vienne Futuroscope, changed to Poitou-Charentes.Futuroscope.86 in 2014, and FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope in 2017 and FDJ-SUEZ as of 2022.
