After Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy is the next rider to return from injury: “Being away from competition and the stress that goes with it has done me good”

Benoît Cosnefroy has endured a tough start to the 2025 season, but the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider is set to make his return to competition at the Tour de Romandie, which gets underway on April 29.

Cosnefroy has not raced since the Renewi Tour eight months ago, having been sidelined with collarbone and knee issues that eventually required surgery in January. Alongside Remco Evenepoel, he was one of the only riders to have not started his 2025 season by April. Evenepoel is now back with a bang, and it looks like Cosnefroy will be returning in the near future.

"I'm not afraid to start again, I know my body will hold up," he told Le Dauphiné Libéré. "Of course, at this stage of my career, I would have liked it to be shorter, but in the end, it's not all negative. This break allowed me to release the pressure. It's a bit like the lockdown during Covid: some people liked to be able to take a break, but ultimately it's the same for me. Being away from competition and the stress that goes with it has done me good."

Now back in training, Cosnefroy is cautious but optimistic. "I feel that I am at January standards. Let's say at the beginning of January in a normal preparation. But I am not afraid to return, I know that my body will hold up. I am not talking about being efficient, but I know that I will not be completely lost. The objective is to resume certain habits like rubbing, maintaining concentration for four hours, paying attention to my diet during the race, to noise, to the wind..."

Looking ahead, he remains unsure of his exact calendar but hopes to gradually build form. "We'll take it day by day, I think. In May, it's possible that I'll go to the Breton races (Grand Prix du Morbihan and Tro Bro Léon) or the 4 Days of Dunkirk, I don't know yet. For the future, I might go to the Critérium du Dauphiné, the Tour de Suisse.

“What I want is to perform. To come back, be strong and win races. I want to rediscover that adrenaline of racing, to rediscover those timeless moments of playing something in the final. I love the life I have now, the pace of life of a top-level athlete and the struggles that go with it, it builds me as a man."