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| Team information | |
|---|---|
| UCI code | GFC |
| Registered | France |
| Founded | 1997 (1997) |
| Discipline | Road |
| Status | UCI WorldTeam |
| Bicycles | Wilier |
| Components | Shimano |
| Website | Team home page |
| Key personnel | |
| General manager | Marc Madiot |
| Team name history | |
 Current season | |
Groupama–FDJ[2] (UCI team code:GFC) is a Frenchcycling team atUCI WorldTeam level. The team is managed byMarc Madiot, a formerroad bicycle racer and winner of theParis–Roubaix classic in 1985 and 1991. The team is predominantly French.
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The team was founded on the initiative of Marc Madiot after he retired from racing in 1994 following a leg-breaking crash in that year's edition ofParis–Roubaix. After a period in the mid-1990s when the professional cycling scene in France was contracting – resulting in the 1996French National Road Race Championships elite race being held on apro–am basis due to the reduced number of professional riders – by the time of the team's launch in 1997 they faced competition for riders in France from fellow newcomersCofidis as well as the expandingCasino team and the already establishedGAN outfit.[3]
The team's initial lineup included younger French riders such as teenagersNicolas Vogondy andDamien Nazon as well as more experienced foreign racers likeDavide Rebellin,Mauro Gianetti,Max Sciandri andAndrea Peron. The inaugural squad also included the reigning French national champions in road racing, time trialling and cyclo-cross –Stéphane Heulot,Eddy Seigneur andChristophe Mengin respectively.[3]
In their first season the team only took a total of 13 wins and won the UCI Road World Cup – however these included several high-profile victories such asFrédéric Guesdon's triumph atParis–Roubaix, a stage win for Mengin at theTour de France and victories for Rebellin at theClásica de San Sebastián andZüri-Metzgete.[3]
In the2003 edition ofTour de France, Australianindividual time trial specialistBradley McGee won the prologue stage to wear theyellow jersey for a few days. McGee was also able to win the prologue of the following year'sGiro d'Italia, wore thepink jersey for three days and finished the race in the top ten (finishing eighth).SprinterBaden Cooke won thegreen jersey for the points competition.
On 31 October 2012, it emerged that BigMat would no longer sponsor the team, with the team choosing to focus on finding another co-sponsor for the 2014 season.[4]
The team has been sponsored byFrançaise des Jeux – the operator of France's national lottery – since its founding in 1997. Française des Jeux owns a majority of shares in the team, and the team is based in a warehouse owned by Française des Jeux on the outskirts of Paris: according to Madiot the team and the sponsor have a close working relationship.[3]
The team was named FDJeux.com in 2003 and 2004, then renamed Française des Jeux, supposedly to avoid bad luck, until July 2010, when the name was simplified to its initials. Prior to the 2012 season, French building merchants BigMat joined the team as co-sponsors, becomingFDJ–BigMat, contributing €2 million to the team.[5][6]
Following the departure of BigMat, the team renamed itselfFDJ.fr. At the end of 2017, the team announced that they secured a sponsorship deal with French insurance groupGroupama for the 2018 season, becomingGroupama–FDJ, contributing investment that increased the team's budget from €16 million to €20 million for next season.[7]
In February 2019, Austrian newspaperKronen Zeitung broke news that a number of professional cyclists had been implicated in the doping scandal uncovered at the2019 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.Georg Preidler confessed to having his blood extracted for a possible transfusion. On 3 March, Preidler confessed to Austrian police, whilst also terminating his contract with the team via email. Preidler was due to race during the previous weekend, later admitting to having his blood drawn on two occasions late in 2018. The team then contacted theUnion Cycliste Internationale (UCI), theFrench Anti-Doping Agency (French:Agence française de lutte contre le dopage) and theMouvement pour un cyclisme crédible (MPCC; English:Movement for Credible Cycling).[8][9]
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French Cyclo-crossChristophe Mengin French Road RaceNicolas Vogondy
Australian Road RaceMatthew Wilson
Swedish Time TrialThomas Löfkvist French Track (Individual pursuit)Nicolas Vogondy French Cyclo-crossFrancis Mourey
Finnish Road RaceJussi Veikkanen French Track (Team pursuit)Nicolas Vogondy Finnish Road RaceJussi Veikkanen Finnish Cyclo-crossJussi Veikkanen Swedish Time TrialGustav Larsson Swedish Road RaceThomas Löfkvist French Track (Team pursuit)Mathieu Ladagnous French Track (Team pursuit)Mickaël Delage French Cyclo-crossFrancis Mourey French Time TrialBenoît Vaugrenard French Cyclo-crossFrancis Mourey
Belarusian Road RaceYauheni Hutarovich Finnish Road RaceJussi Veikkanen Belarusian Road RaceYauheni Hutarovich Finnish Road RaceJussi Veikkanen French Cyclo-crossFrancis Mourey French Track (Individual pursuit)Mathieu Ladagnous
U23 World Road Race,Arnaud Démare Belarusian Road RaceYauheni Hutarovich French Road RaceNacer Bouhanni Finnish Road RaceJussi Veikkanen French Cyclo-crossFrancis Mourey French Road RaceArthur Vichot Finnish Road RaceJussi Veikkanen French Cyclo-crossFrancis Mourey French Road RaceArnaud Démare French Road RaceArthur Vichot French Time TrialThibaut Pinot
Lithuanian Time TrialIgnatas Konovalovas Swedish Time TrialTobias Ludvigsson Lithuanian Time TrialIgnatas Konovalovas French Road RaceArnaud Démare Lithuanian Road RaceIgnatas Konovalovas Swedish Time TrialTobias Ludvigsson
Canadian Road RaceAntoine Duchesne
Austrian Time TrialGeorg Preidler
Swiss Road RaceSteve Morabito French Road RaceAnthony Roux French U23 Time TrialAlexys Brunel Swiss Time TrialStefan Küng French Time TrialBenjamin Thomas
Luxembourg U23 Time TrialKevin Geniets Swiss Road RaceSébastien Reichenbach Swedish Time TrialTobias Ludvigsson
European Track (Omnium)Benjamin Thomas Swiss Time TrialStefan Küng French Road RaceArnaud Démare Luxembourg Road RaceKevin Geniets European Time TrialStefan Küng Swiss Road RaceStefan Küng Swiss Time TrialStefan Küng French Time TrialBenjamin Thomas Luxembourg Time TrialKevin Geniets Luxembourg Road RaceKevin Geniets Lithuanian Road RaceIgnatas Konovalovas European Time TrialStefan Küng French Time TrialBruno Armirail
Hungarian Road RaceAttila Valter
