Alexy Faure-Prost didn't hesitate when offered WT contract by Intermarché - Wanty: "I haven’t forgotten that the team trusted me to move to Conti"

Frenchman Alexy Faure-Prost looks to be another great climbing prospect coming from the country of cycling. At just 19 years of age, Faure-Prost joins his friend and former colleague from FDJ's junior program Lenny Martinez. However they'll soon face off against eachother as Faure-Prost will be wearing the Intermarché - Wanty jersey in upcoming years.

"We were looking for good climbers and I noticed that he was really good," rewinds Kevin Van Melsen, young director of the Circus-ReUz-Technord team in chat with Eurosport. "But I was convinced that it was going to be quite hard to reach him. And then his manager came to me in September - it was really late - to tell me that he was not specifically kept in the FDJ structure. He asked me if I was interested and it happened easily."

After a very impressive first year among U23 category, the just 19-year-old was offered to make the step to WorldTour sooner than planned. For him, it was not a difficult choice, he explains to Eurosport. "I haven’t forgotten that the team trusted me to move to Conti, we were on the same wavelength and the choice wasn’t very complicated."

In his big debut in Intermarché - Wanty, he already scored top 10 result overall in stacked field of Tour of Oman. Yet the Frenchman is still not fully satisfied. "The sensations weren't as good as I hoped," he breathes, "But I finished just behind the Barguil, Vansevenant... Maybe I made a mistake not to follow them."