"Ben's departure was hard to take, he had a fantastic season" - Julien Jurdie rues Ben O'Connor's Decathlon AG2R exit

After four seasons racing for the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale setup, Ben O'Connor departs for leadership of Team Jayco AlUla in 2025 and beyond. Having finished 4th at the Giro d'Italia and 2nd at the Vuelta a Espana in 2024, the French-based team admit the Australian star's exit is a big loss.

"I think we have a lot of positive things in the team. The solution is to keep building on our momentum from 2024. We've got a very homogeneous group, with a lot of youngsters who are going to push on. If we make a good start to the season, we can spring some surprises for 2025," assesses team boss Julien Jurdie to Cyclism'Actu. "It's part of life, part of the problems that every team goes through. It's true that Ben's departure was hard to take, he had a fantastic season. But it's up to us to reinvent ourselves and work well together. This osmosis should enable us to raise our level, we have everything we need to succeed."

Being one of the leading French teams, the Tour de France is obviously front and centre of the thoughts of Jurdie and the entire Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team. Previously, O'Connor had been the main man for the Grand Tours, finishing 4th at the Tour de France back in 2021. Looking forward though, in O'Connor's absence, Jurdie is hopeful Felix Gall can step up.

"Every year, the Tour occupies a lot of space in everyone's minds," he admits. "The Grand Depart from Lille is going to be exceptional in terms of the public, and of course for our partners. We'll have that extra bit of pressure that should make us do great things. I'm convinced that we'll find a very aggressive Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team at the 2025 Tour, with the aim of once again beating Felix Gall in the general classification and the stages."

That's not to say the Tour de France is the only goal for the year though. "I want to take a gamble and say Paris-Roubaix. Our partners are in Lille, the finish is in Roubaix. We hired a rider like Stefan Bissegger, Oliver Naesen found a second youth last year... It would be a superb wink," Jurdie concludes. "I want to put this little pressure on for 2025. Honestly, I think it's better to win Paris-Roubaix than a stage of the Tour de France, it's still a Monument, and surely the most publicized race after the Tour."