Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team finished the year on 15917
UCI points, a big improvement from 2023. The team was particularly strong in
the spring, before having an epic conclusion to the Grand Tour season at the Vuelta
a Espana. The team won an incredible 30 races in total throughout the year and
picked up massive results in General Classifications as well.
Let’s look at how Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team turned
around their form in 2024, and if there were any areas the team could still
look to improve.
Spring races
Ben O'Connor claimed the team’s first win of the season at
the Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia. The race came alive on the climb of
the Collado Bermejo, where an elite group including Sepp Kuss, Daniel Martinez,
and O'Connor bridged to the leaders. O'Connor attacked on the descent towards
the finish, securing victory with a 12-second lead over Tim Wellens and a much
bigger gap over the rest of his rivals. This was the start of what would be a
massive year for O’Connor and the team.
O’Connor kept up his strong form with a win on stage 3 of
the UAE Tour, and came second overall in the GC to bring home 190 UCI points.
Throughout the spring, O’Connor had strong finished in all the short stage
races, and picked up fifth in the GC at Tirreno-Adriatico, and second in the
Tour of the Alps.
Aurélien Paret-Peintre came fifth at Liege-Bastogne-Liege,
contributing 100 points to the team. Despite his successes, this shows that
there is still room for improvement for the team in the classcis, as
Paret-Peintre’s fifth place at Liege was their best overall result in a
monument. Whilst this is definitely a weakness, it’s one of very few for the
team in 2024.
Grand Tour season
At the first grand tour of the year, the Giro d’Italia in
May, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team picked up two stage wins. Valentin
Paret-Peintre secured his first professional victory at the Bocca della Selva
summit finish, and Andrea Vendrame claimed stage 19 with a solo attack 28km
from the finish.
These were both massive results for the team, as was Ben O’Connor’s
fourth place in the GC which brough in an important 220 UCI points. But, the
Australian was disappointed to once again finish just off the podium at a grand
tour, and a lot of his lost time can be put down to trying to follow Tadej
Pogacar for too long on the second stage. Fortunately for O’Connor, his career
defining moment (so far) was just around the corner.
The Tour de France in July brought perhaps the team’s most
negative performance of the season. A lot had been made of the squad’s red-hot
form throughout the spring season and Giro, and many predicted the team to pick
up several stage wins at the Tour. After all, this is their home race, and in
2023 this was the race that rescued their season, particularly through Felix
Gall. Perhaps this year, they made the wrong decision leaving O’Connor at home,
as they failed to pick up a single stage win at the Tour, which was very
underwhelming for the team after so much promise beforehand.
But the team had no reason to panic, as their greatest
result of the season came next.
On stage 6 of the
Vuelta a Espana, Ben O’Connor
launched a simply stunning solo attack to win the stage, taking with it the
team’s 30th win of the year, and the red jersey from Primoz Roglic.
Ben O'Connor defended the red jersey bravely
O'Connor joined a breakaway on the mountainous stage and
seized the opportunity to attack. With 62 kilometres remaining, he made a
decisive move with Gijs Leemreize. While the duo worked together initially,
O'Connor's superior climbing ability allowed him to go solo on the penultimate
climb. He continued to build his lead despite the absence of a chase from the
peloton and secured a memorable stage win atop the final hilltop finish in
Yunquera. This victory gave O’ Connor an impressive lead of over 6 minutes on
the main peloton, and the main GC contenders including Roglic and Enric Mas.
O’Connor went on to hold the red jersey for nearly two
weeks, but in the end the unstoppable Primoz Roglic finally reclaimed the
jersey and his fourth Vuelta title on stage 19 on the Alto de Monclavillo.
Still, O’Connor held on take second in the GC, securing his first ever grand
tour podium, and team’s biggest points haul of the year: 290 points.
But he wasn’t done there, as a couple of weeks later, the
Australian came second in the World Championship road race, finishing just
behind the mighty Tadej Pogacar. This wrapped up what was comfortably the best year
of his career.
Transfers
The biggest transfer news is of course Ben O'Connor's
departure to Team Jayco AlUla for 2025, which is a concern for the team going
forwards. Having joined Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale in 2021, O'Connor was
comfortably the team’s most important rider this year. His stellar 2024 season
included fourth at the
Giro d'Italia, second at the Vuelta a Espana, and silver
at the World Championships. The team bid him a heartfelt farewell, celebrating
his development into one of the top 5 riders in the peloton.
New arrivals include Johannes Staune-Mittet from Visma |
Lease a Bike. The 22-year-old Norwegian, who impressed in the U23 category with
a win at the 2023 Giro Next Gen, will look to make an impact after a quiet 2024
season. Meanwhile, Alex Baudin has left for EF Education-EasyPost, and veteran
Larry Warbasse has joined Tudor Pro Cycling Team. The experienced
Luke Rowe,
formerly of INEOS Grenadiers, has retired and will take on a new role as sports
director at Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, in what could be an excellent
managerial signing for the French team.
One thing is clear however, the team must look to fill the
gap left by O’Connor. It’s little doubt they will be nervous departing with the
Australian, and they may struggle to fill the gap he has left in the team.
Final verdict: 8.5/10
To give Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team anything lower than
9/10 feels incredibly harsh, however some marks to have to be docked due to not
winning a stage at the Tour de France. Apart from that, they truly were one of
the very best teams in the peloton this year, and Ben O’Connor’s Vuelta podium
is one of the team’s greatest ever moments. They were one of the standout
performers of the spring, and we can’t forget their two wins at the Giro.
It’s set to be a hard task for the
team to replicate this in
2025, especially without Ben O’Connor. But it is safe to say that 2024 was an
exceptional year for the French outfit, and they deserve all the applause for
their climb up the UCI rankings.