En créant La Conti il y a quatre ans, nous avons misé sur la jeunesse. Le projet n'a jamais eu autant de sens qu'aujourd'hui. Annonce 👇
Groupama - FDJ sign 7 under-23 riders with pro contract from 2023 onwards
CyclingWednesday, 03 August 2022 at 14:53
The transfer season has begun and it is fully active with teams confirming signing on the market, however none as surprising as Groupama - FDJ who confirm seven riders into their Elite ranks coming directly from it's under-23 team.
Paul Penhoët has signed a contract starting in August now, and seven of his old teammates at the Equipe continentale Groupama - FDJ will be joining him in 2023. They are the following names: Romain Grégoire, Lenny Martinez, Enzo Paleni, Lorenzo Germani, Samuel Watson, Reuben Thompson and Laurence Pithie.
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With development teams now a part of several World Tour structures, others in the past have been dropped as they did not provide certainty that their riders would join the Elite team, as was the case with BMC several years ago. The phenomenom is still very common, however the French team have taken a step ahead and have brought in a a heap of new talent into their Elite team before they could be persuaded by rival teams.
"To bring eight riders from the Conti to the WorldTour is an extremely logical choice. We have a development team with an exceptional crop, so it was only natural to recruit them as a priority," Marc Madiot said. "When we recruit them to the WorldTour team, we know they are ready and they know what they are getting into. They already have the DNA of our team and they want to evolve with us. Next year, I think we will break records in terms of average age. We were at a crossroads for the team, there was an opportunity in front of us, we had to take it," he explained, in what is a risky and very unusual move.
However, one that can bring high reward as the new generations are becoming increasingly stronger and reach a high level quicker than ever before. There are riders coming into the team that are touted as some of the biggest potentials in the World right such as Lenny Martinez, winner of the recent Giro Ciclistico della Valle d'Aosta. He's finished third at the under-23 Giro at the age of 18, aswell as finishing on the Top10 of the Elite Mercan'Tour Classic and 14th at the Tour of the Alps.
The signings also include Romain Grégoire, the winner of the under-23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège aswell as several other high level wins this year that make him one of the most exciting classics stars in the rising.
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